Life and Love Lost
by MyAutumnWind
Summary: Set in the 5th Year, Autumn and Juliet OC's meet on the Hogwarts train but when Juliet starts to have startling visions of the future and with interferences from Malfoy and Potter, it seems that Harry isnt the only one who has had life and love lost.
1. Chapter 1

Based of the 5th Year at Hogwarts ^-^ This FF was co written with my friend, Jess~ I am writing from Autumns POV, whereas she does Juliet and Draco.  
This story is mainly based of our OC's but we have made it fit with the story and dont worry ;) Potter is in there.  
Haha~ Pleaaaase Review, I love to hear what you think!

* * *

**AUTUMN**

Huff huff huff. I heard the loud whistle of the train over the busting chatter of the crowds; Parents were shoving their kids onto the train, waving goodbye through the tiny windows, shouting back things to not forget while they were away.  
I made my way, pushing through the people swiftly, towards one of the red train doors. On the step, I turned and surveyed the scene through the slight smoke.

_Hmph._ I made a face at the adults on the platform. It s not like my parents ever bother to come and see me off. As I was boarding the train that would take me off to school for a year, they were sat at home, probably cooing over my older brother, who by the way, was not invited to this so called "special" school.  
Anyway, I entered the train and hauled my bag over my shoulder. I took in the red carpet floor and the posh interior of the compartments. On my way to find an empty one, I passed a smaller girl, with bouncy blonde hair. She looked nice... She was blocking my path.  
"Outta my way," I shoved her shoulder to make room for me and without another glance, carried on my way. "Finally..." I breathed, pulling open the glass door and throwing my bag onto the top shelf. It made a clinking noise as it hit the metal.

In here it was quiet. All the noise and claustrophobic atmosphere from outside was gone. I let out a sigh and slunk back into the red velveteen seat. And just as I was about to pull my mp3 player out of my pocket, there was a slight tap on the glass door, behind which the blonde girl from earlier stood, a slight apprehensiveness on her face.  
The door slid open, "Um, everywhere else is full. Do you mind?" I paused, my eyebrow raised before nodding. Why not? Just a few hours and I ll be on my own again. Just how I like it. I ran my fingers threw my reddish hair and crossed my legs as the blonde settled herself nervously on the seat opposite. She looked all around the carriage, taking in every detail it seemed. Unimpressed, I shoved my head phones in and sank back into my music.

**JULIET**

I walked slowly onto the platform, watching as my luggage was swiftly taken from my view and loaded onto a carriage at the far end of the train.  
I stood awkwardly for a moment, standing out from the rest of the crowd, clothes in bleak greys, blackish-blues and deep greens, whilst I wore white skinny jeans, and an orange top.  
Shuffling about, I watched as parents waved goodbye to their children, and sighed. It has been a quick drop-her-off-and-drive situation for me. My parents had sped off for a ministry meeting as soon as I'd shut the car door.  
I picked up the grey shoulder bag lying at my feet and made my way towards the train, pushing away the smaller children. The first-years were always annoying, so energetic and happy, practically dying of excitement.  
I could have sworn I saw one girl sat with her inhaler, hyperventilating at the thought of just starting school.

I made my way down the train, looking into each of the small compartments, only to be stared back at of groups of friends, or better yet, simply have the door closed in my face.  
It didn't help much when an angsty looking red-headed girl pushed past me, probably rushing to the last free compartment.  
I kept walking at a steady pace, receiving glances from Gryffindors, short looks of contemplation from Ravenclaws, and a few sneers from Slytherins, though this was better than the verbal and physical abuse they gave the Gryffindors. Then again, they'd probably done something to deserve it. A pretty large number of that lot were stuck up and bowing down to the infamous Potter.  
I passed practically every compartment, finding the only near-empty ones were occupied by extremely antisocial Slytherin jerks, or students no one wished to be around for obvious reasons. I opened a final door, and found inside a grouchy looking girl. In fact, she was the same grouchy-looking girl who had pushed past me not moments earlier. I paused for a moment.  
"Um, everywhere else is full. Do you mind?"  
Well, I had to find some place to sit, didn't I?  
The girl raised her eyebrow, and nodded. I sat on the empty bench-seat, and stretched out till I was fully lay down. The other girl simply stayed silent, listening to some music. Well. This was going to be a pretty awkward journey.

**AUTUMN**

I could feel the vibrations of my music pounding against my skull. Outside my little world, the train was probably rushing along the countryside; a view that I had ignored for the past 5 years. The girl opposite me kept giving me quick glances, her grey eyes scrutinising me, as if I weren t to notice this habit. I raised my eyebrows, "What?"  
"Nothing." She replied way too quickly. After my many years of blocking the world out with music, I was a pretty good lip reader; I couldn t hear her voice through my music, which was probably a good thing. After her swift reply, I noticed her eyes were fixed on the window. I coughed. After 4 years of finding a carriage just to myself, this girl had to come and ruin it. I scrunched my eyes and looked at the girl.

The two blonde pieces of hair that fell either side of her face were almost as annoying as that which was short and cropped at the back, not to mention her pixie-like look and her too-bright orange top. It was as if my opposite had walked in the room. I pressed a button on my mp3 player and the clock told me what time it was. Only another hour and a half to endure... This would naturally pass fast, were it not for something bugging me. There was some strange familiar look about this girl that had my ocd-like habits going mental. But surely I would have remembered the annoying strands of hair. It is not something that I would miss.  
I resisted temptation to ask; enough damage had been done to make any conversation with this girl awkward.  
Pushing it to the back of my mind, I attempted to shut off any distractions that would faze me from making this journey go any faster.

**JULIET **

I turned sideways, and looked at the girl sat opposite me. I hadn't seen her in all my years at this school, which was... Unusual, to say the least. I got on well with most of the larger groups in the school, Cho Chang and her bunch; Fred and George were pretty funny guys, even if they were a year above. Their brother wasn't so bad, but his friends Potter and Granger... Well, I wouldn't hesitate in throwing a hex or two their way. Lavender brown, she was a right freak... Crabbe and Goyle... God only knows why Malfoy hung round with them; I was surprised his daddy dearest let him... I could have happily carried on listing, until I remembered I was still looking in direction of the girl sat before me.  
"What?" She spat.  
"Nothing."  
I turned so I was lay facing the ceiling once more. Couldn't be long left now... I figured I might as well make idle conversation.  
"I'm Juliet... What's your name?"

Well, so much for that. I was simply ignored. She was either listening to whatever rubbish was on her music playing gadget box far too loud, or just didn't like me. I practically sprung up from my seat when the sweet trolley arrived, grabbing myself a few chocolate frogs and jelly beans.  
Shoving a frog in my bag, I ripped the other one from its package and bit off its legs before it had chance to even leap from my hand.  
I ate the rest slowly, sitting up and watching the countryside fly by outside the windows, wondering what time it was.  
I turned to the girl opposite once more. She was wearing all grey's and blues, and looked like she'd never be caught without those silly little headphones rammed into her ears, her dark reddish-brown hair falling just past her shoulders. I twisted one of the longer strands of hair round my finger, thinking for a moment.  
"You know the time?" I mouthed, indicating to my wrist, hoping she'd understand.  
I waited for a moment in silence, waiting for a reply.

**AUTUMN**

I had opened my eyes when the sweet trolley came, but never bothered to buy anything. After the girl had shoved chocolate down her throat, I saw her mouthing something to me, her movements exaggerated as if she was performing a mime.  
"I can t understand you, you know." I snapped, not happy to be mocked.  
"Oh... sorry," She smiled carefree and with one hand she rubbed the back of her head, ruffling her white blonde hair. "You got the time?"  
"There s 45 minutes to go ok?"  
"Okay..." She looked slightly offended at my tone.  
"Im Juliet." She repeated, having mentioned her name but an hour ago.  
"I know, you ve said." I crossed my legs, and turned my body to face the window. She spoke again, but I didn t look at her lips to figure out what she was saying. Another few seconds of pure ignorance must have hit a sore point in Juliet for suddenly I noticed her spring up, march over, and pull one of the headphones out.

"WHAT do you think you re doing?!" I jumped to my feet and knocked her hands away.  
"It s common courtesy to listen to someone when they talk to you!" She shockingly replied in quite a calm tone.  
I blinked. No one I have ever met usually answers back to me.  
"Well its "common courtesy" to not remove someone s headphones when they are listening to music!" I mimicked her squeaky voice.  
"You were being ignorant. It s extremely rude!" She plonked herself back on the soft seat and folded her arms.  
I stared back at her fierce gaze, "I was only asking whether we should change into our robes or not. We are nearly there you know."  
I huffed and also returned to sitting. "I don t know, or care when you change. I don t even know why you bothered to introduce yourself. Haven t you noticed; I like my privacy? I like being by myself; Hence the headphones." She gave me a look of pity, so I returned both headphones to my ears and said, "Don t look at me like that."  
"I m going to get changed then..." I saw her whisper before she stood, brushed off her white jeans and made to the door with a little wave of her hand.  
Well, thank god for that, I thought. Oh nope, when I glanced to the door, she turned just as she was about to leave and said, "So are you going to tell me your name?" "....It s Autumn." "Well, nice to meet you Autumn."  
And then she skipped away, leaving the glass door to bang against the shutter.  
What a strange girl...

**JULIET**

I wandered down the train towards the separate carriage that the very end, where the girls were to get changed. I entered the room and quickly got changed into my robes, tying the Hufflepuff tie loosely round my neck, leaving my shirt un-tucked and the first two buttons open, as did most girls. It was near impossible to breathe when you had the top two done up and pressing against your neck.

I walked back to the compartment where 'Autumn' was waiting. I figured it must be weird to be named after a season, and the way she had looked at me when I d snapped back at her... Well, it looked like people didn't do that pretty often.  
I hadn't seen her round school before, but then again, Hogwarts was huge. Though she was in my year, she definitely wasn't going to be in Hufflepuff. I could name all of the other 5th year Hufflepuff easily, they had become like family. I ruled out Gryffindor, she had too much of an attitude. Slytherin was a definite possibility, but, then again, she might secretly be clever, so that left Ravenclaw open too. I could always simply ask when I returned. I hummed a quiet tune as I wandered back, accidentally bumping into a near white-haired boy, who was considerably taller than me. And also, as it turned out, considerably moodier.

"And where the bloody hell do you think you're going?" He hissed.  
"Back to my compartment. Now you go run along to yours." I sighed, keeping calm. I have to admit, it was something I was good at.  
"Do you have any idea who I am?" He cried, aghast by the fact I had dared answer him back.  
"Do you have any idea who _I_ am?" I replied, tilting my head to one side.  
"What the... Move out of my way you bloody prick I don't have time for you." He pushed past me with some force, pressing me against the side of a compartment with his elbow as he thundered past.  
"Till we meet again Malfoy." I sang down the corridor.  
"SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP." Was the cheery reply I received.

I finally reached my compartment, after handing out directions to first years and being crushed in the narrow corridors far many more times.  
"Hey, Autumn." I called in. "You can go now."  
"Mhm." She mumbled, her music so loud even I could hear it.  
"For Merlin's sake that can't be good for your ears!" I cried, snatching the head phones once again.  
"You do that once more, and I swear to God I will rip those two stupid strands of hair from your head, plait them into a rope, and strangle you with it."  
I paused for a moment.  
"So, how about we actually TALK for once during this fun little train journey?" I grinned, letting go of the headphones and sitting down.  
"About what?" She grumbled, finally giving up and letting them hand out from the neck of her top.  
"Your family, friends, house, what wand you have, where you grew up, interests, hobbies... Oh my, the list is endless." I laughed slightly, waving a hand for emphasis.  
Her face somehow managed to convey no emotion, and she simply sighed and rolled her eyes.  
"Well you're not going to leave me alone anyway or otherwise are you?"  
"Nope." She gave another whine, and then leant back on her seat. I had already made myself comfortable, lying down to face the ceiling once again.  
"Let me get changed first?"  
"Ugh fine. But hurry. I m dying of boredom."

**AUTUMN**

Oh god. Why couldn t she just have sat there silently for the entire journey? It would have been so much easier... I shoved my way through the corridors; pushing innocent wide eyed first years out of my way. One inside the changing rooms, I pulled of my clothes and took my time, buttoning my shirt, tying the purple fabric round my collar, changing my opaque leggings for tights. And after pulling up my school skirt I turned to the hideous cloaks lined with our house colour, mine of course, being purple, clashed horrendously with my hair. I grunted and fixed my hair in the mirror before picking up my belongings and leaving, no hurry to get back to "talk" to whatever her name was.

On my way back, I trailed one finger on the wall, mindlessly fixated on the music in my ears. I had shoved my music played into my pocket before I left. Suddenly, someone knocked past my shoulder. "Hey! I m walking he..." My mind went blank. _What the...? _My eyes followed the dark curly haired boy when he smiled and apologised as he ran down the corridor. Autumn? Autumn? Snap out of it! I blinked. This isn t me. It took me a few seconds to shake my head and recover from that weird state. What just happened to me? That boy.... Ah well. It was nothing. _It was nothing._

I returned to the compartment and sat opposite Juliet. "Ah, Ravenclaw. I kind of figured." She nodded to my purple colours.  
I nod back. "Ok... so, shoot. You want to talk, go ahead and talk." Her longer pieces of blonde hair bobbed around her face as she grinned at me. I rolled my eyes in return.  
"So, my parents are in the ministry of magic. They work in the department of.... well I can t really say." She laughed, her hand waving as she spoke. My stature was still, I just watched. "Um, I have a younger brother who is too young for Hogwarts yet. And I have loads of cousins and aunts and stuff, all who have been to this very school. What about you?" Oh god.  
She really is my opposite. Her eyes blink at me, wanting a response. I clear my throat.  
"...My parents both have a job which I don t care enough to find out what it actually involves and I have an older brother who is the perfect golden boy. That s it for my family. I'm the first one in my family to come here. ...They are all muggles, which is why my brother is the favourite."  
"See, conversation isn t that hard is it?" I glare at her and cross my arms across my waist.  
"Whatever. I'd rather not." She smiled at me. It was strange. I had never had this happen to me before. My friends were in short supply because of my anti-social attitude and habit to ignore anyone who doesn t interest me. This girl, annoying as she was, was growing on me.

_...Goddamn it._ I felt the train shudder to a halt. "Finally." I sighed and stood up, pulling my shoulder bag from the shelf.  
"I'd better go find the rest of my classmates then." Juliet smiled before opening the glass door to the hoards of students pushing to get off the Hogwarts Express. You could tell who were the first years; they were the ones with the petrified look on their faces as they heard the news that a half giant was taking them on boats across a pitch black lake to a giant candle lit castle where they were to be humiliated in front of everyone as they were sorted into houses... Whoa, that is pretty bad actually. As I followed the blonde out of the door, she took a right, I took a left. As she walked away, she gave me a smile and a wave. Hmph.


	2. Chapter 2

Based of the 5th Year at Hogwarts ^-^ This FF was co written with my friend, Jess~ I am writing from Autumns POV, whereas she does Juliet and Draco.  
This story is mainly based of our OC's but we have made it fit with the story and dont worry ;) Potter is in there.  
Haha~ Pleaaaase Review, I love to hear what you think!

* * *

**JULIET**

I waved goodbye to Autumn, partly happy to be rid of her, and partly glad I had made a new... Friend? Could she even be called than? Ah well, only time would tell. Maybe I d have a few classes with her this year.  
"Hey Hannah!" I smiled as I ran up to join her and Ernie Macmillan. Me and Hannah Abbott had been good friends for a few years now, but were not so overly close that we felt the need to tell each other every aspect of our lives. They were both in Hufflepuff alongside me, and were nice people to be around, often happy and optimistic.  
"Hey Juliet!" She exclaimed, reaching out to embrace me into a hug.  
"Hey Jools." Ernie grinned, giving me a slight wave. I smiled and waved back.  
"Who're we waiting for?" I asked, moving to stand to the right of him, opening up the bag around my shoulder and handing out a few jellybeans to each of them.  
"Meg." Hannah mumbled, through a mouthful of sweets.  
"Ah, okay." Megan Jones was the most recent addition to our little gang . She was... A real talker, that s for sure. Ernie and I weren t as good friends with her as Hannah, but then again, very few people weren't friends with Hannah, she was a very affable person. It only took us a few minutes to find Megan, or rather, for her to find us.  
"HEY GUYS!" She practically screeched from the centre of the crowd.  
Ernie gave a small cough, and Hannah elbowed him in his ribcage.  
"Oi!" He whined.  
"Shut-- Hey Megan!" Hannah beamed, receiving one of her killer hugs.  
Me and Ernie waved our hands in protest as Megan moved towards us.  
"Er, we ve just eaten!" Ernie cried.  
"Yeah, wouldn t want us to be sick all over you, would you now?" I stammered.  
"Ooh, good point." Megan nodded slowly. "Well, let s get going then! We all turned round to face the castle ahead, and then looked down at the shady path we had to cross to get there.  
Ernie sighed as he ran forwards to the edge of the path. "I ll grab us a carriage." We walked slowly after him, chatting about the holidays and what we d done.  
"Ohigawd over the holidays, I saw... Get this you guys... A UNICORN." Megan cried, waving her arms about in excitement and nearly sending a group of first years flying.  
"Really, you don't say!" Hannah nodded, whilst I simply laughed, rolling my eyes.

We finally met back up with Ernie, whose face was red from yelling at first years.  
For the last time, "GET TO YOUR BOAT! THIS CARRIAGE IS FOR FIFTH YEARS AND ABOVE ONLY!" He cried out, shooing a gaggle of Ravenclaws out of his way.  
"Oh, hey you guys!" He smiled, shuffling to the edge of the carriage. I was first to hop in, happily taking his hand and letting him lift me up onto a seat. Next up was Hannah, who I helped in, and then last came Megan, who practically jumped straight up, toppling backwards a little. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Ernie mumbled, gripping her hand and yanking her forwards so she didn't fall off completely.

After we were all settled in, Ernie lit the lantern at the front of the carriage, and we started to make our way towards the castle.

After about fifteen minutes or so of riding the strange carriage, pulled by the strange horses in front... I knew the name of the beasts, I just couldn t quite remember... Thestrals? Yes. That was it. Unseen by all, except those who have witnessed death. It was a shame I could see them.  
We finally made it to the base of the great mountain, on which the castle was situated.  
"Ey up." Ernie grinned, hopping off of the carriage, and then helping the rest of us out one by one. He picked up the lantern, and started to walk up the steep slope to the main doors of the castle. I walked next to him, and we spoke for a bit about school, holidays, and people we know.  
"I have a feeling this year is going to be incredibly boring." He sighed.  
"Oh come on, it won t be that bad." I smiled. "After all, there are some pretty big quidditch matches coming up!"  
"Yeah, but it s not like we re going to win the house cup or anything. Bloody Gryffindor always takes it. They d be nowhere without their precious Potter." He spat, putting emphasis on the name. As you can probably tell by now, our group was not very fond of him.  
"Well, here we are." Ernie said, placing his lantern on a large flat rock to join the thousands of others. Filch would take them all inside after we'd left, no doubt.  
I walked slowly up to the main doors, following Hannah, Ernie and Megan into the Great Hall.  
"Hey, Autumn!" I cried, seeing the girl I had sat with on the train.  
She groaned and gave a slight wave back. I decided to walk over and join her; she looked a little lonely.  
"What s up?" I asked, grinning. "I think this year s going to be exciting, what about you?"  
She sighed. "I think this year is going to be the same as every other stupid year in the boring old school."  
"Oh jeez, would it kill you to be just a little optimistic?"  
"Yes. Yes it would."  
**"**Cynical." I muttered.  
"You got it in one." She replied, complacently.

I sighed and walked off to join Hannah and Ernie once more. Megan had gone off to wish her cousin, sister... some family member anyway, good luck.  
Ernie had already picked up his knife and fork, tapping them against each other in some attempt to create rhythm.  
Dumbledore stood at the front of the room, holding the dusty, battered old hat out in front of him. And so, the sorting began.

**AUTUMN**

The black carriages carried me and some other people who I didn't know towards the castle. The bright candle light stood out against the now darkening sky. I smiled. This view was so comforting. Better to be here than at home. Once the ride pulled to a halt, I yawned and made my way up the path to the entrance hall alone. "Excuse me.... Excuse me," I pushed past a number of groups milling about.  
The large iron door to the main hall had been pulled back to reveal the giant room, where the four house tables were set, with the teachers table at the front; A familiar scene. "Autumn!" I winced. Oh god, it s that girl again. She bounced over from her friends, Hannah and Ernie something or other. She wittered on about something before sighing at my one word answers. Eventually, she gave up and returned to the Hufflepuffs. I took my place on one side of the long table, a good distance away from other people in my house. It s not that I didn t like them, or vice versa, I just didn t know anyone well enough. While everyone else was settling, I peered around the room; I spotted the Slytherins, Malfoy and his lot, aiming a small dung bomb towards an unsuspecting Gryffindor, Harry Potter and his well known friends were talking, probably about what new evil deed Harry has stopped or whatever, All the Hufflepuffs looked cheerful and optimistic... As Dumbledore stood, I removed my headphones and let them swing down to the collar of my shirt.

He gave a command and in came the tiny, frightened and curious first years. McGonagall lead them in, her stride reaching twice as far as theirs. Gasps came from their lips and they couldn't believe the floating candles and endless sky above them.  
I closed my eyes and thought back to my first day. As I was from a non-magical family, McGonagall had visited my family and explained everything, which I didn t believe until my first day. I thought all of this was trickery and that my parents just wanted to be rid of me. But when the sorting hat told me some of my inmost secrets and I saw the scenery, my mind was blown. Just as the first years now. I opened my eyes again as the sorting hat did its usual preaching about dark magic that will soon take over. I noticed Hermione, one of Harry s friends listening intently. Trying to get more tips on how to save the world probably.  
_Urgh_. The first kid shook as he heard his name called. The battered hat was placed upon his head. He squeezed his eyes together as it cried "GRYFFINDOR." An extremely large round of applause burst from the Gryffindor table. I smirked at the Weasley twins as they jumped up to salute the new boy. Only about 40 more to go.....

**JULIET**

I watched as children joined house after house, standing up many times to applaud the new Hufflepuffs, who sat down happily, their faces beaming. I chatted with the rest of the people around me, laughing so much at points, my stomach hurt. The candles let out a warm glow across the room, and soon the first years were all sorted. Dumbledore took his place, standing at the front of the room once more, and proceeded to tell us about a new Defence against the dark arts teacher. Umbridge looked fat, ugly, extremely strict, and conceited. She pushed Dumbledore aside to lay down some rules. I doubt anyone in the room was actually listening as, as soon as she was finished, people cheered when Dumbledore clapped his hands, the noise echoing around the room, and food appeared onto the tables before us.  
"Let's eat!" Ernie grinned, happily piling food onto his plate. I wasn't really that hungry on the first day back, so I took some chicken and a few vegetables, nibbling them slowly, talking more than eating.

"Have you noticed," Ernie mumbled, spraying chicken in front of him. "eh, sorry. But, have you noticed how everything happens to Gryffindor and Slytherin?"  
We all laughed, nodding in agreement. "I have to agree, it is pretty weird." I stated, turning towards the Slytherin table.  
I noticed Pansy Parkinson happily stuffing her gob. And surely, wherever she was... Yes. A certain Draco Malfoy wouldn't be far behind. He caught my gaze across the room, and his eyes widened. His mouth opened as if to yell out 'YOU!' from an old fashion cartoon, but instead he simply closed it once more, and narrowed his eyes. I stared back, sneering, and he eventually swivelled round, blocking me out completely. I turned back to the table, and picked up some chicken.  
"Stupid prick, so far up his own arse..." I muttered.  
"What's that Jools?" Hannah asked, turning to me.  
"Eh? Oh, nothing. Just some people in this school..." I grumbled.  
Soon dinner was finished, and people were drinking the last of their pumpkin juice, joining in with a toast proposed by Dumbledore, to a new year, new students, and new knowledge. I set my goblet down on the table top just in time to see it vanish before my eyes, as the tables were cleaned for the final time.  
Standing up with the rest of the Hufflepuffs, we were led by our two prefects, whose names I did not know, down to the dormitory, which was practically a basement, near which was the kitchens. The dorms are a lot like a badger sett, with a round common room filled with yellow hangings, and an underground tunnel leading to the dorms, entered through circular doors.  
Marching down, I followed the rest of the year into the common room. There was barely any room to even move, the place was so packed. I followed Hannah and Megan into our dormitory room, and waved goodbye to Ernie, who went up with a group of guys. It was late now, and time for bed. It was an early start for me tomorrow, and I would have to pick up my timetable and get to lessons fast in order to get a good seat.

**AUTUMN**

I finally reached the Ravenclaw common room door on the fifth floor in the west side of Hogwarts. There was the usual spiral staircase to climb before you were faced with the door with a bronze eagle shaped knocker.  
Fortunately, I was close behind a boy who, when the knocker asked the question, got it right.  
"Which came first, the phoenix, or the flame?"  
"A circle has no beginning."

Once inside the wide circular room, I smiled at the familiar midnight blue carpet and giant arched windows, where beyond, I could spot some of the surrounding mountains. Blue satin hung either side of the glass, and there were gold stars painted onto the dome ceiling.  
Not wanting to waste any time, I made my way past the white statue of Rowena Ravenclaw and up to my dormitory.

I had to share my dormitory with 4 other girls. They were rather nice and I was civil to them, but I know they thought the same as everyone else: What a _freak_. But I didn t need friends to make me happy. Hogwarts was my second home and I was content here. Those were my last thoughts before I settled down to sleep.

"Autumn! Autumn, wake up!" My eyes shot open.  
"Whoa, what?" My vision cleared and I saw one of my roommates, Heather, shaking me awake. She was fully dressed in school uniform already."What time is it?" I asked groggily.  
She flicked her straight brown hair and put her hands on her hips, "Time for the first class, Autumn. Here, I picked up your timetable for you. Now get dressed sleepy head!"  
I blinked at her. Well, for one, Heather had never spoken more than two words to me before, and two, why would she help me out and pick up my timetable? Argh, that didn t matter. What was I thinking?! A few minutes later I was ready to go, so grabbed my book bag, glanced at my first class of the day and ran down to the dungeons.

Everyone had already gone in by the time I swung round the iron door and into the potions lab. "Better late than never, Miss Roberts. Five points from Ravenclaw."  
"Aw, what?!" I glared at Professor Snape and chucked my bag into the only seat left. Huffing, I look to the girl occupying the chair next to me. "... You have got to be joking." For here she was, the annoying pixie girl from yesterday, sat there grinning at me like we were best mates.  
"Hey Autumn." She chirped.  
"Mmm," I nodded back before turning my attention to the snivelling potions master.  
Just as Snape spoke his first word, there came a knock at the door.  
"Enter," Snape groaned. A white haired Slytherin boy popped his head round and Snape s expression fell. "What is it, Mr Malfoy?" His eyes narrowed. Malfoy s gaze shot around the room, and I was shocked, when he surprisingly gave Juliet next to me an evil glare. Glad to know it s not only me that finds her to be annoying. Malfoy was alright for once. Anyway, he motioned to Snape to come outside. And after that I lost interest and zoned out. The doings of Slytherins are none of my business. However, when Juliet next to me is swivelling around every two seconds to attempt to get a glance outside the door, I became agitated. "Do you want to sit still?"  
She gave me a look, "Sorry... But that Malfoy. Just something about him really ticks me off."  
I grunted in response. A few seconds later and Snape re entered looking rather dishevelled.  
"Hmmm..." Juliet began to think. As I rolled my eyes, Snape clapped and called everyone to attention. "Say, pass me your timetable." Juliet whispered to me. I handed it to her and turned back to the front.  
She needs to shut up.  
I almost fell off my chair when she let out a squeal. "Miss Portman. Is something the matter?" Snape called over.  
"Nope, sorry~" She leaned over to me, "We are in like 7 of the same classes. Herbology, Care of magical creatures, Potions, Divination, transfiguration... you name it!"  
My heart sank. _Oh boy_.  
This is going to be a long year.

**JULIET**

Potions went by pretty fast, with quite a few points take from each house by the end. Gryffindor suffered the most, which, I have to admit, made me smile.  
I waved goodbye to Autumn who merely nodded back, and walked up the staircase towards Arithmancy, wondering why I d ever even chosen such a subject. It was a long walk away from the dungeons, and by the time I'd finally walked through the doors into the musky room, there were few seats left, and they were being filled up fast.  
I looked around the room, not seeing anyone I knew. I walked slowly towards an empty desk at the back of the room, and sat down precariously, watching as nearly every one of the desks around me was filled.

There was a sudden slam of doors towards the back of the room, causing me to jump in my seat. I watched as Draco Malfoy entered the room, and groaned as I realised the only free seats were either the one next to me, or one next to a group of Gryffindor girls.  
He threw his bag angrily onto the table, and I leant forward on the desk, resting my head on my arms.  
"Who shoved a pole up your ass?" I muttered, turning my head to glare at him.  
"Shut the hell up Portman." He hissed back, opening his bag and taking out a long black quill and some parchment.  
"Make me." I spat.  
"Don't think I wouldn't hesitate in throwing a hex your way." Malfoy snarled.  
I silently mimicked him, flicking my head from side to side, and then leaning back on my chair.  
"Don't think you scare me you stuck up little prat. You're nothing but a stupid little mummy's boy." I poked him hard in the arm.  
Twisting round, he grabbed hold of my wrist, his fingernails digging into my skin.  
"You think I wouldn't hit a girl?" He snapped, letting go of my arm and pushing me away from him as he did so. I looked down at my wrist, his hand had left a red mark, and there were some small cuts and bruises where his nails had dug into me. I'd never felt so angry.  
"I'll get you for that you little retard." I turned back round to my parchment, and picked up the golden quill lay on top.  
I'd get him back. There was a quidditch match coming up. He was a seeker, as was I.  
This was going to be very interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

Based of the 5th Year at Hogwarts ^-^ This FF was co written with my friend, Jess~ I am writing from Autumns POV, whereas she does Juliet and Draco.  
This story is mainly based of our OC's but we have made it fit with the story and dont worry ;) Potter is in there.  
Haha~ Pleaaaase Review, I love to hear what you think!

* * *

**AUTUMN**

The day dragged on. After I had escaped Juliet in Potions, I thankfully had the next few lessons without her; Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and then Quidditch Practice. My tough personality was perfect for place on the team as a beater. And even though I was muggle born, flying came naturally to me. The speed and wind rushing through my hair; I loved how far away I could get from everyone else, on the ground below me. On the plus side, beating bludgers at people was good anger management. Hah. After a long but refreshing first day of lessons, I was glad to grab some food at the end of the day. As I was eating I overheard something about a Quidditch match at the end of the week. It was early, but nonetheless would be fun. I swear it was Juliet s squeaky voice that I heard shouting how Malfoy was going to get his puny ass kicked.

I looked up as a boy sat opposite me. "You mind if I keep you company?"  
"Err...." My mind went blank, just like on the train; For it was the same boy who had knocked past me. The dark curly hair.... I shrugged at an attempt to keep cool. What is wrong with me? I think as he smiles and picks up a cupcake from one of the platters.  
"You re on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, right?" I nod at him, unable to look him in his eyes, which I had noticed before were a deep brown. "Are there any places going? My parents are nagging at me to get an extracurricular activity. And I love flying; it s like my escape from all the annoying people down here."  
I blink, "Whoa, I know right, that s exactly what I think! And, umm, well I had practice today and our keeper was pretty rubbish, so try out. I m sure you'd be better than the piece of crap we have now."  
He laughed, I smiled. "I m Jasper."  
"Autumn.... Oh god." I look over his shoulder at Juliet, who was stood on her bench, pointing at Malfoy. "What the...?"  
I trailed off to listen to her shouting. "You re going down Malfoy! What are you gonna do? Get mummy on me? Bahaha!" She cackled, quite shockingly.  
Thank god there was hardly much of an audience in the Hall at this moment. Malfoy was stood, bright red in the face, fists clenched. Juliet pulled a smug face, jumped down and skipped out of the hall, giving me a slight wave as she went past, and a wink at Malfoy. He let out an angry noise and stomped out after her.  
"Wow." I said.  
"I know right," The boy agreed with me.

**JULIET**

I walked proudly out of the Great Hall, and was making my way down the corridor to make sure I got to Care of Magical Creatures early, when suddenly something hooked round my arm.  
I was spun around, until I collided with something, or rather, someone.  
"What the hell was that stupid little stunt you just pulled in there all about?" Malfoy cried, tightening his grip on the top of my arm.  
I twisted my arm out of his grip, and then stood on the edge of my toes so we were... nearly, at eye-level.

"You think you're so bloody great, don't you, Malfoy?" I hissed maliciously.  
He smirked, tilting his head down to look into my eyes. "I don't think so, Portman, I know so."  
We stood this way for quite some time, me, positively fuming, and him, looking down at me smugly.  
Malfoy leant forward, his face just inches from mine. I could feel his breath, warm against my face, and the tip of his nose brushed against mine. My heart was pounding in my chest, and my breathing picked up... I had no idea why.  
"Ey up, what's this then?" I spun round to see Ernie walking cautiously towards us.  
"I'm just going to Care of Magical Creatures, Ern. Malfoy here is being an absolute prick and blocking my way." I huffed, walking over towards him.  
Malfoy scoffed, and walked in the opposite direction. "Little freak!" He called down the corridors.  
It took all the willpower I had to stop myself sprinting after him and hexing him till he was dead.

Ernie linked arms with me, and we walked outside towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where a substitute teacher for Hagrid... Professor Grubby Plank or something, was waiting with the rest of the class to start the lesson.  
I paired up with Ernie, and we spent the rest of the lesson learning about the 'lovely' creatures known as blast-ended skrewts. We laughed as someone from Ravenclaw was 'blasted', though for some reason, what had just happened in the corridor was still replaying in my mind. I wondered why, it wasn't like it was anything important... I noticed Autumn in the corner. She too seemed a little... Distant. Walking over, I greeted her happily, though she seemed a lot less cheery to see me.  
"Hey Autumn!"  
"Oh... You." She grumbled.  
"Psh, where's that smile gone, eh?" I beamed at her, whilst she sent me a look as if to say 'seriously'? "You seem pretty far off in your own land today." I laughed. "Daydreaming about anything?"  
She blushed, her cheeks turning a deep pink. "No..." She replied, far too quickly.  
"Ooh! Is it a certain someone?" I grinned.  
"No! Anyway... I ... I have to feed this worm... thing. Ernie looks like he needs a hand!" She pointed to where Ernie was stood trying to wrestle with one of the skrewts, and I sighed and walked back towards him.  
"I'll find out who it is sooner or later!" I called back to her, but she pretended she hadn't heard and carried on feeding the 'worm'.

**AUTUMN**

I cursed myself for my blushing cheeks. It was nothing! I didn t even know this guy... I bet I can t even remember his name... Ok I lie, but still, that doesn t give Juliet the right to pry into my life. I crushed the cabbage in my hand and shoved it down this worm s throat. 'Unfortunately' all the blast ended skrewts were taken, so I was stuck with these stupid worm things. _Argh_. ...Oops. In my anger I had squashed one of the worm s heads.  
"Errrr...." I looked down disgustedly at the mess.  
"Need some help?" I raised my eyes to meet Ernie Macmillan.  
"Are you talking to me?" He nods and smiles.  
"Your Juliet s friend, aren t you?" Ernie asks, kneeling to help me clean up the worm guts.  
"I guess you could say that." I replied coldly, brushing a hair out my face.  
"Well, I m Ernie."  
"Autumn."  
"I know."  
What was it with people this year?! Don t they get that I like being alone? Argh, all of this was Juliet s fault. I glared at her from across the grass patch and she grinned. "Ah." I stood and brushed grass off my tights and Ernie returned to his blast ended skrewt, with an apprehensive look on his face.  
Thank god I had my mp3 player with me, and this teacher looked like a pushover. They wouldn t tell me off for listening to music, so I shoved my headphones in and blocked out the world. Just how I liked it. Juliet would just have to learn that this is how I am. I don t want her friends or anyone else. I m fine on my _own.  
_  
And that was how it was for the rest of week. I did my best to avoid Juliet and Ernie or anyone else that came my way... except Jasper. There was just something about the way his presence made me feel that was addictive. He was the only one I would let sit by me at lunch; He was the only one that wasn t annoying. Unlike Juliet and her happy, chirpy antics. She would wink at me every time we passed in the corridor. But whatever. She can do what she wants.

Anyway, it was the day of the Quidditch match: Hufflepuff verses Slytherin. I made my way down to the stadium on my own, scarf wrapped around my neck. The atmosphere was buzzing. All the first years excited to see their first match, older students thrilled at the tension between the two teams. It would be an easy match. Slytherin were champions for years, and especially with their posh broomsticks, supplied by Malfoy's rich dad. They put everyone else's to shame.  
Well, that was what I thought before I saw the Hufflepuff team fly out. Of course. Juliet sped out above my head, yellow quidditch robes billowing out behind her. I saw her make some gesture to Malfoy, who then fumed bright red and swore at her in reply. Hah. This will be a match to remember I thought as I settled myself on one of the wooden benches, 50 foot in the air.

**JULIET**

I flew out of the changing rooms, grinning, my hair held in place by numerous clips, the wind blowing against my face, turning my cheeks pink.  
I spun round so I was facing Malfoy, hovering past at the same level, flipping my middle finger up at him and sticking out my tongue.  
He glared and sent a stream of insults my way, but I simply turned my back to him, and waved over to Hannah, Ernie and Megan in the Hufflepuff stands. I noticed Autumn in the Ravenclaw stands, joined by the curly-haired boy she liked so much, I grinned and winked at her, causing her to blush and pull the scarf around her neck further over her face.  
I felt something hit me on the back, and turned to find Malfoy throwing a small rock in his hands up and down into the air.  
"What the fuck Malfoy?" I cried, flying towards him.  
"This is hardly a fair fight." He scoffed. "You're just a little girl. What damage can you do?"  
I glared at him, my nostrils flaring. "You'd be surprised." I hissed, and then turned to join the rest of my team at the other end of the pitch.  
Madame Hooch blew the silver whistle she had strung around her neck, and the match begun.  
The rest of my team flew into place, beaters already fighting to keep the bludgers away, whilst I stayed put, as did Malfoy.  
I had already seen the snitch, but I knew his was watching to see where I'd go. Grinning, I flew straight towards him. He didn't move.  
I was less than a meter away, and then I yanked the broom handle upright, lifting my high into the air, sending a swift kick into his ribcage as I did so. I heard him gasp for breath as I grabbed the snitch which had been hovering a mere two meters or so above his head. Grinning, I opened my fist... only to find it was gone.  
Cursing, I dipped back downwards, where Malfoy was looking daggers at me. I simply smiled cockily, and flew off to try and find it once more.

I heard a yell come from one of the beaters, and looked downwards. A bludger was zooming towards me. Swerving left, I only just managed to avoid it, hearing a short laugh from Malfoy.  
I turned round to see what the hell he thought was so funny, when I noticed the bludger was heading straight towards the stands. The Ravenclaw stands.  
"Oh shit." I whispered, watching as it flew forward.  
People ran left and right, trying to get out of the way. I saw Autumn duck beneath a bench, out of harm's way. The guy she was with, however, was not so lucky.

The bludger hit him, hard. Luckily, after flying such a distance, it had lost some momentum behind it, lessening the blow. His nose gushed blood, and the guy passed out. I heard Malfoy screaming with laughter, and turned to face him.  
"If I had my wand right now, you'd be dead Malfoy!" I screeched.  
He raised an eyebrow. "As if you could do that to me." He smirked.  
I let out a scream in frustration, and flew back to the centre of the pitch, watching as Autumn ran with McGonagall to the hospital wing to see Madam Pomfrey.  
I turned to one of our beaters. "If you can, aim for him." I snarled, nodding my head towards Malfoy, who gave a little wave back.  
"Will do." The guy smiled, ascending into the sky once more.

I flew up after him, and looked around for the snitch. Spotting a glint of gold, I sped towards it, leaning low and close to my broom to gain speed.  
I grabbed it in my hand, just in time to feel a sharp pain in my side. Malfoy had flown straight into me. I screamed in pain, lowering myself quickly back down to the ground. It was all I could do not to let go of the snitch. I gripped my side in pain as I collided with the floor, toppling off my broom.  
Madame Hooch ran towards me, and I opened my fist, the snitch flying up towards her, which she hastily grabbed. She declared Hufflepuff the winners as I was hitched onto a stretcher to be carted off to the hospital wing, my eyes scrunched shut in pain, with 'what looks like a broken rib, nothing too serious'. Nothing too serious... Pah. This hurt like hell.  
I opened my eyes slightly to see Malfoy towering over me, a look of uncertainty in his eyes, and... was that... fear? Worry? I wasn't sure, and I sure as hell didn't care.  
"I hope you're happy." I spat, gripping my side again. It hurt to talk. He turned away, and I closed my eyes once more.

**AUTUMN**

No, no, _no_. Please.  
I couldn t breathe properly.  
All I could do was watch as Madam Pomfrey, with the help of another teacher, carried Jasper towards the castle.  
Move feet! I told myself. Run! But I was too shocked by the image of the bludger colliding with his face. Blood spurting from his nose. I shudder, and once Jasper is no longer to be seen, I glance at the sky. Juliet swooped into the air and caught the snitch... only to be winded by Malfoy. That slime ball. This was his fault. I stormed back down to the side of the pitch and saw Malfoy land next to Juliet.  
Without a moments wait, I marched out onto the field and slapped Malfoy right across his disgusting face. "That was your fault! It s all your fault!" I screamed, and noticing Juliet being helped to the Hospital Wing, I raise my hand again, but Malfoy flinched.  
"Calm down!" He cried, raising his arms in defence.  
"Calm down? You almost killed him! And Juliet! I swear to god Malfoy." His team mates gathered behind him, and I realised I was outnumbered. Ah.  
"You ll pay one day, you prick." And I stormed away.  
"T-tell Juliet I m sorry, okay?" He shouted after me. Wait. "What?" I span and glared at him. "You think she will talk to you again?! Just go die Malfoy! Argh!"

Marching across the ground back to the castle, I shook with rage. That Malfoy. I kicked a stone in anger. He'll get what s coming to him sooner or later. Useless brat. Then I went to the Hospital Wing. Juliet was lain down on a bed moaning dramatically. She winked at me to prove it was just for show. Pfft, drama queen. It was nice she was ok, but she wasn t the one I was worried about. I stood over the bed where Jasper lay and gripped the metal bar. Please be ok, I thought. Madam Pomfrey approached him and put some weird tablet in his mouth.  
"Is he going to be ok?" I asked. She nodded and looked back down. Jasper suddenly coughed and fluttered his eyes open.  
"My head...." He ruffled his hair. The action made me stop breathing.  
"You re alright!" I managed to squeak out.  
"Oh hey, Autumn." He smiled and closed his eyes. "What happened?"  
"Bludger."  
"Ah right. That explains the killer headache."  
I resisted the temptation to fling my arms around him. And that thought made me stop. What am I doing? This isn t me AT all. I glanced back to see Juliet raising her eyebrows at me. It made my head spin. _Whoa_. I can t be here. I can t be here.  
So I ran. I heard Jasper call my name in surprise as I fled, out the room, down the corridor and up the stairs. My vision was blurring. What s happening to me? Why do I feel this way? I had survived without them for 4 years. I just don t understand. All of a sudden I ran straight into someone and ended up with a bump on the floor. I raised my head and let out a gasp.

**JULIET**

I leant onto my side, smirking through the little pain there was now, as I turned to face the 'mystery man', as I had gotten used to calling him.  
"She liiikes you." I sang happily.  
"What?" He asked, turning to face me.  
"You heard me, don't act like you didn't." I scoffed.  
"Oh. Well. Maybe." He gave a slight shrug.  
"I'm Juliet." I stuck my hand out into the air.  
"...And I'm Jasper... But, I can't shake your hand from over here." He smiled weakly.  
"Air shake then dummy." I laughed, waving my arm up and down. He did the same.  
"I feel like a fool." Jasper grinned.  
"Really? I'd have thought you'd be feeling pretty painful right now." I grinned.  
"Ah, fair point." He nodded weakly. "...And what do you mean, she 'likes' me?"  
I raised an eyebrow. "What, are you serious? It's so obvious! She never lets anyone near her, and there you two are, best buddies."  
"... B-but, we're just friends?" He stammered.  
"Oh you can't be serious." I cried. "Did you not see her face when you had your arm around her? I've never seen her so happy!"  
"...I guess..." Jasper nodded slowly. "It... would make sense... not to boast."  
"And you can't tell me you 'just want to be friends' with her either now, can you?" I smiled.  
"I... I guess not... She's... really nice." Jasper admitted, running his hand through his hair. "But... Why did she run off?"  
He looked a little upset at this, and I have to admit, I felt a little sorry for the guy.  
"Think about it Jazz... You don't mind if I call you Jazz, do you?"  
"Not re-"  
"That's good then. Well, think about it. This girl has managed to keep herself away from people in this school for over four years now, and all of a sudden you come along and BAM!" I slammed my fist onto the bedside table to the left of me, making Jasper jump slightly. "She gets feelings for you. Wouldn't you be a little scared if you were her?"  
Jasper paused, thinking it over.  
"I hate to admit it... But I guess, it does make sense. You're not as annoying as she said you were, you know that?" He laughed.  
"Well, that's good to know, I guess." I laughed with him, and then turned to face the ceiling. "But I guess I'll be having a little nap right now. Wake me up if she comes back, or if anything interesting happens." I waved my arm weakly, gave a yawn, and then closed my eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Based of the 5th Year at Hogwarts ^-^ This FF was co written with my friend, Jess~ I am writing from Autumns POV, whereas she does Juliet and Draco.  
This story is mainly based of our OC's but we have made it fit with the story and dont worry ;) Potter is in there.  
Haha~ Pleaaaase Review, I love to hear what you think!

* * *

**AUTUMN**

"You." I sneered.  
He returned the glare, but then sighed and held out a hand. "Get up."  
I pushed myself to my feet ignoring his outstretched hand. "I don t need your help."  
Shrugging, he shoved his hands in his pockets.  
Malfoy. How dare he even talk to me.  
I made to leave, but he stepped in front of my path. As I made a face, he spoke. "So... Is Juliet ok then? I m guessing you have just been to the Hospital Wing."  
"What do you care?" I stepped to the other side, but he moved and blocked me again. "I just want to apologise ok. It was too far. I mean, she still is an annoying little- Hey!"  
He grabbed my arm as I began to walk past his shoulder.  
"Get. Off. Me. I snarled.  
He released his grip, "I m not as bad as you think, you know."  
"Oh, yeah sure, _whatever_. He clenched his fists.  
"Like you re perfect!"  
"Don t even start, Malfoy. You re just pathetic. Not get OUT of my WAY!" I fired up. I couldn t be bothered with him. I wouldn t care if he dropped dead on the spot to be honest.

I began to storm away when he called after me. "Wait. I- I need to tell you."  
"Tell me what?!" I threw my hands in the air., "What could possibly be that important that you would need to tell a freak like me?!"  
He blinked and looked, if it were possible, quite nervous. "It s about Juliet...." I marched back up to him, so I was but an inch away. "  
Juliet is, I admit, annoying, but she is the only friend I have really. So if you even think about-"  
"I think I like her." My world collapsed. "....What!?" I whispered.  
Malfoy.... Malfoy.... The school jerk, rich, boastful. Likes Juliet, the sweet, cheerful... and Hufflepuff.  
Hufflepuff and Slytherin. No. What the...? I was so confused.  
Putting my hands to my head, I shouted at Malfoy, "What?! Is this a joke? Is your aim to ruin her life or something! Just... Just- Argh!"  
He took my wrist in his pale hand and began to drag me back towards the Hospital Wing.  
"No, no, no! I m not going back there! Let go!"

"Is something the matter, Malfoy, Roberts?" Snape s voice rang out from behind us. Malfoy s face went whiter, if it were possible.  
"No, everything s fine." I ripped my hand from his grip and rubbed my wrist.  
"Very well. Be on your way then." The potions master smirked and flicked his cloak as he exited the corridor.  
I turned back to Malfoy and spoke in a hushed tone, "Fine. You go back. Whatever. You might think you 'like' Juliet, but you almost broke my friends face back there, and I will not forgive you. And I am not going back to the Hospital Wing."  
"Autumn, believe me. It doesn t please me that you are Juliet s friend. I believe the feeling is mutual." He took a moment to glare at me before continuing, "Think what you like." Suddenly, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me with such force that I had no choice but to be dragged back to the Hospital... Oh god, Jasper probably thinks I m such a freak.

**JULIET**

"Autumn!" My eyes snapped open, Jasper's loud yell had woke me up instantly, jeez, that guy had a set of lungs on him. And people thought I was loud.  
Rolling over in the bed, I turned to face Autumn, grinning.  
"I knew you'd be back." I winked. She suddenly jumped through the doors. Poking her head back outside, she stamped her foot angrily.  
"WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" She screeched.  
"What the...?" Jasper leant forwards, and I sat myself upright in the bed, propping myself up with pillows.  
"Keep the noise down over there!" Madam Pomfrey yelled from a balcony overlooking the hospital wing. "I'm having my break up here, and if you lot can't keep the noise down, I'll have to kick you out!"  
"Sorry." Autumn called back. "We'll be quiet, we promise."  
"Well see to it you are!" And with that Madam Pomfrey shut the door to her room, the slamming sound echoing around the room.  
Autumn slowly walked towards Jasper, smiling. "Sorry... About... The running and stuff... You know how it is." She laughed, running a hand through her hair.  
"I do?" Jasper asked, laughing.  
"Oh, Juliet, you have a _guest_." Autumn put emphasis on the last word, her eyes narrowing.  
I paused for a moment.  
"...Where?" I leant forward, trying to look around her.  
"Oh for God's sake..." Autumn muttered. She pulled open the main door and dragged in Malfoy.  
"You." I hissed.  
"Idiot dragged me all the way back here." Autumn added.  
I stared at Malfoy, who was stood silently in the middle of the room.  
"Why?" I asked, tilting my head to one side.  
"Ask him." Autumn muttered.  
For a moment, nobody spoke.

"Well? Why did you come here?" I drummed my fingers on my leg, waiting impatiently for an answer.  
I waited a minute or two longer.  
"Well?! If you're not going to say anything then why did you even both-"  
"I wanted to apologise, okay?" Malfoy cried. "But I can see pretty damn clearly that I'm not wanted here. You're just a bunch of lonely freaks that need to get a grip on life." He turned round to walk out of the door, when Autumn grabbed his arm. "Stupid bitch, let go!" Malfoy cried, seizing her wrist.  
"You leave her alone!" Jasper yelled, lifting himself up out of the hospital bed.  
I was happy Malfoy had apologised... Slightly, though I am not sure why, happy that he'd come to see me... But that last remark made me remember who he was.  
I watched as the scene unravelled before my eyes.  
And I hoped they'd beat the crap out of that stupid little weasel.

**AUTUMN**

Malfoy was shouting. And not to mention, he was hurting my wrist. My energy was running out. I don t have the time for him anymore.  
"Oh Bloody hell! I don t even know why I came. Obviously you losers haven t heard of apologies."  
"You liar! Tell the truth!" I began to hiss in his face. He let his grip go and pushed me back. This annoyed Jasper.  
"Oi! What do you think you re doing you prick?! Jasper attempted to hobble out of his bed.  
"No, don t! You re hurt!" I cried looking back to him, my eyes pleading. Malfoy took advantage of my distraction and pushed me away from the door. I fell and whacked my head on a metal bar on one of the beds. _Aw crud_. My hand went to my bleeding head.  
"That s it!" Jasper did his best to march over to Malfoy, and sucker punched him right in the nose.  
Malfoy squealed and cupped his hand to his face, "You... Dumbledore will be hearing from my father about this!"  
"Oh, whatever, you pompous brat. Now get out of here!" Jasper shouted, and Malfoy fled, with a nervous glance to Juliet before he went.  
A moment of silence passed. The door to the Infirmary banged against its hinges. Madam Pomfrey s office door flew open. "Just WHAT is going on in here?" She screeched.  
I lifted my hand away from my head. "Oh crap," My hand was covered in blood, which created a sick feeling in my stomach.  
Jasper kneeled next to me and put his hands on my hair to inspect my injury. I felt my heart thud. He was so close to me.  
"That absolute bloody, stupid... Argh." He muttered under his breath.  
He ran one of his hands down so it was cupping my cheek and said, "You can breathe now." I let go of the breath I didn t realise I was holding.  
Juliet snorted.  
And the moment was ruined.  
Madam Pomfrey ran down the stairs and pulled me up to standing. "Oh dear, that head is going to need some stitching."  
The room span. I laughed nervously as Jasper caught me from falling. "I guess we are all in here for a while then."

**JULIET**

I grinned as Jasper punched Malfoy in the face, but at the same time, I felt a little sorry for him.  
Then he went off to tell his 'daddy', and I wished Jasper would punch him again.  
He looked over to me, and I sneered back, just before he ran out.

Sighing, I lay back down in bed, and Autumn climbed into the one next to me, her head all bandaged up.  
"I feel like my head is twice as big..." She whined.  
"You look like your head is twice as big." I laughed. She glared at me, and then smiled.  
"So, are we friends now?" I grinned.  
"I guess you could call it that." She smiled back.  
I sat for a moment, thinking about what had just happened.  
"What did you mean when you told him to 'tell the truth'?" I asked.  
"Nothing." Autumn replied without hesitation.  
"Oh, okay." I shrugged off the paranoid feeling. Autumn would surely tell me if something was up.  
"Oh." I whispered towards her. "And by the way, he knows you like him." I nodded in Jasper's direction, pausing for a moment. "He... guessed it... please don't kill me."  
Autumn's face was a cross between rage, relief, and happiness.  
"Well?" She finally replied.  
"Well what?"  
"Well... Does he... you know?"  
"Like you back?" I smiled. "Yeah. You two are cute together." I stuck out my tongue jokily, and she laughed.  
"What are you two whispering about?" Jasper called from my left. "Nothing!" We both replied, still laughing. "I think that bump on the head did something to you, Autumn, I've never seen you so... Happy." She looked a little confused. "Is that a bad thing?"  
"No! It's great!" I said, stretching out into a comfortable position.  
"LIGHTS OUT!" I heard Madam Pomfrey call from her little balcony. All the lights in the room turned off, and we were plunged into darkness.  
"I'll wake you lot up in the morning, you should be fine by then." "Hooray." I muttered sarcastically, hearing a snigger from Autumn in response. I slowly drifted off to sleep, both eager and worried to see what difficulties tomorrow would bring, as first lesson I had Arithmancy again, which meant being sat next to Malfoy.

**AUTUMN**

I woke up and rubbed my eyes at the bright light shining through the curtains. The bandages on my head had been removed and I was feeling much better.  
Juliet was still fast asleep, but Jaspers bed was empty. He must have gotten up earlier.

I looked at the clock on the wall. I had an hour before classes started, so I returned to the Ravenclaw common room and took a shower. Refreshed and awake, I settled myself in one of the armchairs to read one of the many books that piled up on the giant bookshelves.  
The stars on the ceiling sparkled in the sunrise. For once, I was content... And my headphones weren t in my ears. Had it taken 5 years to find where I belong?  
I was so absorbed in thought that I hadn t realised that the common room had begun to fill, and some were on their way to grab breakfast. I for one, wasn t hungry, and didn t want to risk seeing Malfoy.  
And Jasper. I felt my cheeks glow bright red; I was so embarrassed. I know Juliet had meddled in my business, but for once, I forgave her. She had been a pretty good friend to me and I don t think I was willing to throw that away over nothing.

I waited another while longer for the feast in the hall to be over before making my way down the corridors absentmindedly.  
"Oops, sorry," I apologised as I knocked past some Gryffindors. Oh... it was Potter, Granger and Weasley.  
"Hey, aren t you the girl that slapped Malfoy?" Harry grinned at me.  
"Um... Yeah." They looked so excited that I thought they were going to high five me or something.  
"Pretty feisty for a Ravenclaw," Hermione smiled.  
"Pretty cleaver for a Gryffindor," I smirked back, slipping back into my old grouchy self.  
Hermione raised her eyebrows at me, her blue eyes staring into me. "Anyway... I ve got to get to Defence Against the Dark Arts, so if you ll excuse me." I attempted to make my leave.  
"Hey haven t we all got that now?" _Oh please no. _  
"Yeah!"  
I felt like turning right around and going back to bed.  
Harry ruffled his messy black hair, "We'll escort you. Don t want Malfoy coming back for revenge." Oh you have no idea Potter, I wanted to say.  
Rolling my eyes, I regrettably walked with the trio down to the third floor, where Umbridge lay waiting to prey on us. That woman was detestable. If there was someone I hated more than Malfoy, it was her. In the first lesson, last week, she had us copying notes from the textbook. It was ridiculous! How could I have forgotten Potter s little outburst?!  
As soon as I entered the depressingly girly classroom, another Gryffindor pounced at me. Dean something or other, I think. "Hey, you re that awesome girl who gave Malfoy a right good slap! Good on ya girl!" And he gave me a mock punch on my shoulder. How many people saw? Oh yeah, Quidditch Pitch, Autumn, not the most secretive of places.  
Umbridge was prowling at the front. She gave an annoying little cough which signalled us to sit down and shut up. I glanced to my left, and Seamus Finnigan gave me a thumbs up. Somehow, I had gotten in with the Gryffindor crowd. Juliet is not going to like this. "Turn to page 365." Umbridge said in her high, trill voice. I got a nudge on my back, and when I turned, Ron passed me a tiny piece of paper. On the note, it said in scrawled writing;  
"Dumbledore s Army, Hogs Head, this weekend." Confused, I gave Harry a look. He just nodded. Dumbledore s Army?

**JULIET**

I awoke just in time to see Autumn leaving the hospital wing, and heading for her first lesson. I groaned as I looked at the clock beside me, hauling myself out of bed. It wasn t that it hurt any more, no; Madam Pomfrey had taken care of that. It was just that it was effort having to get up so early. Dragging myself sleepily down the corridors, I went back to my dormitory to get cleaned and changed, picking up my bag as I left.

I walked anxiously to Arithmancy, people giving me odd looks as I walked past them in the corridors, asking if I was okay, and telling me about what a jerk Malfoy was. I smiled and thanked them all, telling each person I was absolutely fine, though I wasn t sure I really meant it.

Entering the room slowly, a murmur of voices began, with people looking first to me, then to Malfoy, who was already sat down waiting with his quill and parchment ready on the desk.  
Sighing, I sat down next to him, sitting as far away from him, to the other side of the table, as was humanely possible, even facing the other way in hopes that he would get the message: I didn t want to talk to him at all, or ever again.

Today class, we will be learning about how... I zoned out of the lesson completely, re-thinking recent events over in my head, when I felt a poke in my side. What the- Turning around, I noticed Malfoy sat staring at me, his face thoughtful, yet grim.  
What do you want? I asked, with a look that made it clear I hated him.  
He simply stayed silent for a moment, just watching me.  
Freak... I mumbled. I apologised. Malfoy stated simply. So I heard. Facing the other way once more, I received another jab in the ribs.  
"That was where you hit me with your broom, you inconsiderate jerk!" I hissed, facing him once more.  
"...Sorry." He said solemnly.  
"What the hell do you want? I thought I made it clear I never want to talk to you again?" I whispered; my voice hoarse.  
His face looked grave. "I just wanted to apologise for how I've acted...Again..."  
I gave a huff and acted like he hadn't said a thing.  
"I didn't mean to hurt you." He looked serious, his eyes staring deep into mine.  
"Yeah, right." I scoffed. "You remember: 'You don't think I would hit a girl'? Well, looks like you stuck to your word."  
"I'm being serious here!" He cried. Every head in the class spun round to face us.  
"10 points from Slytherin, Mr Malfoy!" Malfoy put his head in his hands and sighed.  
As the lesson picked itself back up, his gaze never left mine.  
"Bugger off Malfoy." I muttered, picking up my quill and scribbling down some last minute notes.  
His hand reached over towards mine, and I turned to face him, glaring. It hovered above my hand for about a minute, before he pulled it back.  
"Sorry." He muttered.  
"Bit late for that now, isn't it?" I hissed.  
The lesson ended soon, and I packed away my equipment angrily. Malfoy left first, calm as ever, whilst I stormed out of the room some time after.  
Rounding the corner, eager to get to Herbology, one of the lessons I had with Autumn, someone grabbed hold of the strap of my bag, forcing me to stop.  
"You know I'm sorry, right?" Malfoy asked.  
"Yes I know; I heard you the first hundred times! But I guess I m just finding it hard to believe! Right now, you're just being a freaky, annoying stalker!" I yelled. "Why won't you just: Leave. Me. ALONE?" I marched outside, leaving him stood silently in the corridor, first-years sniggering as they walked past him.

**AUTUMN**

I managed to escape the swarms of congratulating Gryffindors and ran all the way to Herbology, where, thankfully, I had my lesson with the Hufflepuffs. No Gryffindors in sight.  
"Rough day?" Juliet laughed as I plonked myself down next to her with a heavy sigh.  
"Bloody Gryffindors." I muttered, sweeping soil off the wooden table in front of me.  
"Well, it can t be as bad as my first lesson. I had to sit next to Malfoy," She made a motion like she was throwing up. I chuckled, "You win."  
"He keeps telling me that he is sorry, but I mean, ergh, have you seen him? Like that slime ball would ever care about anyone."  
I agreed with a nod and twisted my mouth. Malfoy did care about her though... If he was telling me the truth yesterday.  
I guess it was too late now. It didn t look like Juliet was having any feelings of forgiveness towards the boy. Which sure was a shame for Malfoy, but who cared about him?

Professor Sprout strolled into the greenhouse and called us all to attention. "Ok, everyone, today, we will be dealing with mandrakes. So remember, just like last year: Ear muffs on tightly!"  
"I hate Herbology sometimes," Juliet sniffed as she pulled on her bright green earmuffs and gave a resentful look to the potted mandrake in front of her.  
An hour later, we were free of the stuffy greenhouse and were clambering all the way to the top tower for Divination.  
"Awh, my ears feel so weird," Juliet rubbed the side of her head, "Don t you feel a bit deaf?"  
I shook my head, "Nope. Used to loud noises I guess."  
"Hmm."

The Divination room had drapes of multicoloured fabric hung around the room. It was dimly lit and was almost as bizarre as the teacher. Professor Trelawney floated around at the front of the class, waiting for all the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws to fill in and take their seats round the small circular tables.  
"Today," She said mystically, her large glasses almost falling off her face, "You will be using crystal balls."  
"Oo-er!" I heard someone say behind me. Nobody took this lesson seriously. Next year, when we were doing our exams, I doubt anybody is going to pick Divination as a subject.

All of a sudden, there came a short sharp cough from the trapdoor entrance. Umbridge stood there, a sweet mocking smile on her face, hands clasped at her waist. "Umm, hello." Trelawney stumbled towards the woman. Umbridge did another annoying cough, before intruding the room.  
She simply wandered around at first, inspecting the tables and equipment set out. Her expression did not move from the patronising smile. As she passed, the students gave her dark looks. After a few minutes of silence, and Trelawney nervously rubbing her hair, Umbridge turned to the teacher. "I d like you to predict me something please." And she brought out a bright, pink clipboard that matched her hideous jumper.  
"Excuse me? ... I- I cannot simply predict things on the spot...."  
Umbridge raised her eyebrows, "Well if that s the best you can do." Her pen tapped the clipboard and she made to leave.  
"No, no wait. You... You are in grave danger!" A moment passed. Umbridge smiled sickly.  
"You will be hearing from me. Good day."  
And with that she was gone. Trelawney collapsed into one of the cushioned seats. I hate to admit it, but even if she was a bit of a freak, she didn t need hassle from Umbridge.  
Juliet slowly rose from her seat. "...Miss?" She walked over and tapped the teacher on the shoulder to shake her from the daze. Suddenly, Trelawney grabbed Juliet s arm. She let out a gasp. Then, we all watched in surprise as the teachers eyes glazed over and she began to speak;

_"Three of the good, one from the dark, born into a prestigious family will unite. Lies, fighting, happiness, sadness... death. Love and life lost, mistakes shall be made."  
_  
Juliet yanked her arm away and stared in horror as Trelawney shook her head and blinked, "Sorry, did you say something?" All was silent as Juliet gave me a shocked glance and walked out of the room in confusion and disbelief.  
I didn t understand. Did she actually just predict something for real?


	5. Chapter 5

Based of the 5th Year at Hogwarts ^-^ This FF was co written with my friend, Jess~ I am writing from Autumns POV, whereas she does Juliet and Draco.  
This story is mainly based of our OC's but we have made it fit with the story and dont worry ;) Potter is in there.  
Haha~ Pleaaaase Review, I love to hear what you think!

* * *

**JULIET**

I backed out of the room slowly, Trelawney's voice replaying over in my head.  
_"Three of the good, one from the dark, born into a prestigious family will unite,"_  
Me, Autumn... Jasper? And Malfoy.  
_"Lies, fighting, happiness, sadness... death."_  
Death.

I wasn't sure why I was so worked up about it, the old bat barely ever made correct predictions.  
But then again, she had on some rare occasions. My hands shook as I backed into a corner underneath a decorative arch in the hallway, then slouched down till I was sat on the floor, hugging my knees.  
It was like she'd sent an electric shock through me the second she touched my arm.  
My vision began to blur and my breathing got deeper, flashes of colour appearing before my eyes, faded images with blacked-out faces.  
What the hell type of magic had that old freak used on me?  
I heard someone walking past, then picking up their pace, feet running towards me.  
"Portman?" I sat frozen, my eyes wide and blank.  
"...J-Juliet?" My lips quivered as I saw the faded black shadow of a person fall before my eyes, surrounded by flashes of green. Voices cried out, shapes moved, twisted, merging in front of me.  
"Juliet?! What's wrong?" I looked up and saw Malfoy staring down at me.  
I didn't care he was there.  
"I think I just saw someone die." I whispered, collapsing on the floor and bursting into tears.  
He stood still for a moment, watching me lay there before him, before wrapping an arm around me, and gently lifting me to my feet.  
"Come on. We're going to see Snape." Malfoy grunted, half dragging me down the corridor, my knees weak.  
He pushed what few people there were out of our way as he walked me down the corridor.  
"Move you bloody idiots." He snarled to a group of first years, gawking at the sight of me.  
Taking me down to the dungeons, he pushed open the door to Snape's office before even bothering to knock, something any other student would have gotten a number of detentions for, without a doubt.

"She needs help." Malfoy nodded towards me, removing his arm from around my waist, and sitting on a chair in the corner of the room.  
I stood there shaking, babbling on absolute nonsense to myself, as Snape picked up a green vial and handed it to me.  
I gulped it down quickly, soon feeling drowsy, my eyes crossing over.  
"Will you be needing assistance with leaving?" Snape asked me calmly.  
"No... I don't think so." I swayed slightly, then turned to walk out of the door, before taking one last look at Malfoy, whose face was considerably paler than usual.  
"Thanks..." I murmured, before closing the door behind me, and making my way back to the Hufflepuff dorms, my head feeling clearer with ever step I took.  
I had to find Autumn as soon as possible.

**AUTUMN**

I waited patiently till the end of class. Why had Juliet acted that way? Was there something in the message that she had spotted and I hadn t?  
Chucking my things into my bag, I practically jumped down the trapdoor and flew towards the Ravenclaw common room. Maybe Juliet would be waiting for me outside there. If not I ll have to avoid lunch and try to find the Hufflepuff common room, although I had no clues to where it was apart from "it s in the basement."  
I m sure I ll catch up with her somewhere. I ran up the spiral stairs, jumping two at a time. The knocker asked its usual question and I answered quickly. Once inside, the room was empty; everyone was at dinner, all except one boy sat on one of the window sills, facing towards the mountain view.

"Hi Jasper..." I said, cautiously, still embarrassed from yesterday.  
He turned his head and smiled, "Oh hi, Autumn." He moved his legs so I could sit next to him.  
"How come you aren t at lunch?"  
"How come _you_ aren t at lunch?" He challenged me.  
"Ha, touche. You haven t happened to see Juliet on your way here have you?"  
"Nope, sorry. Why?"  
I sighed and looked down, "She was just acting all weird after Divination that s all."  
He put his hands behind his head and looked at me with his dark eyes, "She'll be fine. She probably saw the Grim or something." He removed his hands from his head and poked my side.  
Slapping his hand away, I smiled, "I m being serious, stop it."

He caught my hand, and I caught my breath. I had only just noticed how close he was. Swallowing, I began, "I... was just... worri-" He stopped my sentence by pressing his lips to mine. I felt my heart stop and my body freeze. One of his hands cupped my cheek as I closed my eyes. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks but didn t care. I didn t care about anything, but Jasper. He leaned back and gave me a slight questioning smile. My face must have been a picture because he began to look worried.  
"...Autumn?" I managed to move my hand to my hair.  
"I- " I stuttered. Somehow I brought myself back to reality and replayed the moment in my head. Did that just happen? "Jasper."  
"...Yeah?"  
"Juliet told you, didn t she."  
"...Yeah."  
There was a moment silence, which I broke my standing and turning to face him. "I- " I looked sheepish and put one hand to my hair, "I m glad she did." Jasper smiled, and relief washed over his expression.  
Grinning to myself, I exited the common room, my cheeks still bright red. My mind was left blank, but I m sure there was something I was forgetting....  
"Oh!" Juliet. I need to find her. So I took the stairs down to the Hall. Hopefully she will be there.

**JULIET**

I walked down to the dining hall fretfully, but I was soon calmed when I opened the doors and noticed Autumn and Jasper sat down in their seats.  
"Hey guys." I smiled.  
"Juliet!" Autumn cried, shuffling up the bench to make room for me. "Are you okay?"  
I sat next to her, wringing my hands. "I'm okay... Just a little... shaken up, I guess."  
I wasn't prepared to tell Autumn what I'd seen just yet... It was only by accident I had told Malfoy, I was so worked up.  
"You sure?" Jasper asked. "Your hands are shaking."  
I looked down, and sure enough, he was right.  
"Have something to eat." Autumn said, smiling. "It might make you feel better."  
I picked up a chicken drumstick and nibbled the edge, soon realising i was famished.  
Though I hated to admit it, Autumn was right nearly all the time, as was Jasper.  
"I hate it when you know what's good for me better than I do." I muttered through a mouthful of food.  
Finishing the chicken, I looked around the dining hall, and caught the eye of a certain Slytherin.  
He nodded towards the doors at the end of the room, before walking outside, no doubt expecting me to follow. I felt like leaving him out there alone and looking like a fool, when I remembered how he'd helped me earlier today.  
Sighing, I stood up from the table.  
"I'll be back in a minute you guys... I just need to clear something up.  
"Okay, see you soon." Autumn said.  
"Take care." Jasper added, giving me a nod as I walked away, then turning to Autumn to chat.

Walking out of the door, I looked to my right, the corridor was empty. Hearing a quiet cough, I looked left, and there was Malfoy, leaning against a wall, looking relaxed as ever.

I walked towards him slowly, looking apprehensive. The closer I got, the more anxious he seemed to get, wringing his hands together, a small gesture for some, a large sign of emotion to him.

"Hey Ju-"  
"Why did you help me yesterday?" I demanded. Probably not the politest greeting, but I had to know.  
"Because you needed me." He smirked.  
"I didn't need you." "Liar."  
"I am not a liar!" I cried out in frustration. "You hate me! I told you to stay away! So why?"  
He put one hand up to my face, resting it on my cheek, grinning. "Because maybe I don't hate you as much as you think."  
I stood still for a moment, as did he, in complete silence.  
"What the hell do you want Malfoy?" I whispered nervously.  
"I..." He paused, then took his hand away from my face, and turned to walk down the corridor.  
I stayed put, watching him walk.  
"WHAT THE HELL, DRACO MALFOY?" I yelled after him.  
He ignored me and carried on walking, and so I made my way back to the Grand Hall, determined to get him to talk to me at one point, somehow.  
Sitting back down next to Autumn, she raised an eyebrow.  
"Well?"  
"Nothing." I sighed, swilling the pumpkin juice around in my goblet.  
Hopefully next lesson would take my mind off whatever the hell just happened.

**AUTUMN**

I watched Juliet walk complacently back to us. She had a strange look on her face and was chewing her lip.  
"Well?" I ask her as she settles down next to me again.  
"Nothing."  
Jasper looks at her, "Was that Malfoy I saw you leaving with?"  
"What?!" I slam my hand down on the table. Juliet thinks for a second before nodding. "Juliet! What are you thinking talking to that git?" My temper flared up.  
She put both hands on her cheeks and leant her elbows on the table. "I don t get it. One minute we are at each other s throats... the next he is telling me that he is sorry. The new development is that he 'doesn t hate me as much as I think'"  
She scoffed and I laughed nervously. "Well, they do say that boys who tease you actually really like you."  
Her face was panic stricken. "Y-you think Malfoy...? No. That s not possible." She shakes her head and her blonde hair brushes across her face. "Oh my god." She places her hands together and widens her eyes. I decide to tell her.  
"... You know. The other day in the Hospital Wing... when I saw Malfoy. He told me that he, um, he likes you, Juliet." She froze. I waited a while for her to digest it and took a sip of my pumpkin juice.  
"Malfoy... Draco Malfoy? We are talking about the same person, aren t we?" She stuttered out.  
Jasper nodded, "Yeah. There's no reason why it can t be true." Poor Juliet. She looked like her world had fallen apart. Another minute of silence passed where Juliet simply stared at one point on the table.  
She then looked at me with her wide grey eyes, "... You know. Back then, he cupped my cheek. I thought he was going to kiss me." Jasper, who had been drinking pumpkin juice at the time, choked and spluttered.  
I ignore him and turn to Juliet, "There you go then. That confirms it."  
She lets out a quick sigh and twists her mouth, "Well, this is going to be awkward."  
"Haha, good luck" I chuckle and continue to eat my lunch while Jasper recovers from nearly dying on his drink.

**JULIET**

I felt strangely ill after what Autumn had told me at lunch... Well, not ill exactly... But... There were butterflies in my stomach, I felt dizzy, and yet... Happy?! Ugh, I felt ashamed even thinking about that.  
I walked up the astronomy tower, shivering slightly. It was freezing up here, the stone walls and many windows offering little insulation.  
I took my telescope from Professor Aurora Sinistra, as she stood handing them out before people entered the room.  
Setting up my telescope at a window at the far right, I looked round at a few of the other students who had decided to turn up to lessons today. A lone Ravenclaws was fussing round a telescope, though he really should have left long ago. There was also a short Gryffindor boy standing on a small box to see through his telescope, and three other Hufflepuffs. That was it. I wasn't close friends with them, but we nodded in greeting, and they set up a magically altered black box around their telescope, in order to stop light hitting it and ruining their calculations.

Suddenly, an ear piercing shriek echoed around the room.  
Umbridge, of course, using her stupid new 'tannoy' system, much like that at the platform where students such as myself boarded the train to school.  
"NO LEAVING THE DORMS, AFTER 11PM!" She exclaimed. "NO WEASLEY PRODUCTS TO BE SOLD OR BOUGHT, AT RISK OF DETENTION, AND NO COPYING HOMEWORK! THAT IS ALL FOR NOW." With a final squeal, the noise stopped, and peace was restored.  
Looking through my telescope, I struggled to find a certain constellation of stars I had written down for me to search for.  
"You're looking too far to the left." I stood back, turning to face Malfoy.  
"What do you want?" I huffed, crossing my arms and narrowing my eyes.  
"I'm sorry, but it's obligatory for me to turn up to lessons I chose to take." He sighed, rolling his eyes. Picking up my telescope, he twisted the end of it another 90 degrees, zooming in, and then re-positioning it further to the right than it was previously.  
"There. Try it now." He stood back, looking proudly at the telescope, awaiting my thanks.  
"Well done." I said coldly, jotting down the co-ordinates.  
"Mmhm. Not quite the kudos I was expecting." He scoffed.  
"What, want me to do a little dance and hand you an award?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"Something along those lines." He grinned.

I paused for a minute, glaring at him.  
"...Autumn told me something at lunch." I said simply.  
"Whatever it was, that stupid girl was probably lying." Malfoy insisted, his eyes wide.  
"Probably." I shrugged. "Wasn't anything big anyway." I turned back to the telescope, humming a tune and taking down more notes.  
"What did she say?" Malfoy asked, nudging my foot with his shoe.  
"Oh, I thought you weren't bothered?" I smirked.  
"Shut up and tell me what she said." He commanded.  
"Say please~" I sang, smiling.  
"... Please." Malfoy hissed through gritted teeth.  
"Oh, she told me we were having rhubarb crumble for pudding."  
"Argh! You know you're so bloody annoying!" He cried, banging his hand against the wall.  
A few people had left now, there was just the small Gryffindor and two Hufflepuffs were still in the room, none of them bothered by Draco's little outburst.  
"Is that why you like me?" He froze, staring at me.  
"W-Who the hell told you that? You're so full of yourself, Portman." Draco growled.  
"Well then what the hell happened in the corridor earlier? Why do you keep apologising? Why won't you leave me alone?" I looked up at him, never breaking eye contact.  
"... Because... Because..." He looked down at his feet.  
"Because what?!" I took a deep breath. "I... I like you. And I have no idea why! You're a selfish, stupid, annoying, whiny jerk of a -"  
He took my face in his hands, his lips crashed into mine. When he pulled himself away, I stood still, my heart pounding.  
"I... I...You stupid..."  
"Don't ruin this, Juliet." He sighed, walking out of the tower, leaving me standing there.  
I looked around the room; the little Gryffindor looked back at me, and then turned back to his telescope. The Hufflepuff hadn't even paid any attention throughout the whole thing.  
I wandered dazedly back to the dorms, feelingly strangely lightheaded and happy.

**AUTUMN**

I had waved goodbye to Juliet as she set off for Astronomy and had gone to bed. I was exhausted. The past few days I hadn t had any spare time at all. Thank god it was Friday. But before I closed my eyes, I spotted a note on my bedside table. "Huh?" Opening it, I remembered: it was the note from Weasley inviting me to that anti-Umbridge group on Saturday... Tomorrow. Ah, I may as well go. I ll take Juliet and Jasper with me. I mean, the Hogs Head was in Hogsmeade and we could make a day of it. I paused and placed the note back down. Make a day of it... I hadn t thought that before. I hadn t had any close friends to go out with. Smiling, I hugged my chest and rolled over to sleep. I m glad I met them. I guess it s better to NOT be on your own sometimes.  
And the last thing that crossed my mind was my memory of Jasper kissing me...

I woke up and went down to Breakfast, with the plan to tell Juliet and Jasper about the DA, whatever that was. When I got there, Jasper wasn t sat on the table, probably still asleep, and Juliet was with her friends on the Hufflepuff table, although she didn t seem as lively as she was normally. I sat down and began to snack on the cereals, toast, bacon and other of the many heavenly foods around me.

After a few minutes, Juliet sneaked over and sat opposite me. "Mornin'." She yawned.  
"You look.... tired."  
"I am! Bloody..." She muttered something under her breath that I didn t quite catch.  
"How come? Oh right you had astronomy last night didn t you?" I continued to eat my bacon sandwich. As if she had thought of something horrible, a frown passed upon her face.  
"Something you wish to share?" I asked. She covered her face with her hands and spoke through gritted teeth.  
"Now, I m only telling you this because you re my best friend ok?" The words best friend fazed me for a second, but I carried on listening, "Last night as Astronomy, Malfoy was there..." She cringed.  
"What! Go on!" I leaned closer to her.  
"No, I can t, it s too embarrassing..."  
"Juliet!" I moaned.  
"Okay. Okay... Promise not to tell?"  
"Yeah, because I have loads of friends to tell," I said sarcastically, "Go on!"  
"He... Malfoy kissed me." She made a cringing noise and hid her face in her arms.  
I blinked at her, and heard someone from behind me go, "Who kissed who now?" Jasper sat down next to me and looked curiously at Juliet. "Ah... I m guessing Malfoy."  
Juliet s head shot up and she looked exasperated, "How did you guess?!"  
"I m just good like that." I smiled at him and noticed that his hair looked like he had literally just got out of bed... but it was kind of cute. The heat began to rise to my cheeks again, so I looked away from him.  
"And?" I questioned Juliet.  
"And what?"  
"What did you do?"  
"Nothing, he ran away."  
"What a prick," Jasper muttered.

Juliet didn t seem like she was going to give anymore away so I brought up the note that Weasley had given me.  
"Oh yeah, guys, Ron Weasley and Potter invited me to join this DA club thing. It s like an anti-Umbridge group or something. And there s a meeting today at the Hogs Head. You up for it?" Jasper shrugged, "Whatever. If you want to go then I ll go."  
"Oh how sweet." Juliet said, sardonically.  
"Juliet." I rolled my eyes at her, "Are you coming then?"  
"Yeah, just let me throw up first."  
"Ergh, Whatever." I poured myself some juice. "Meet us at the entrance to Hogsmeade in an hour then, ok?" I ordered the girl.  
She pushed herself up heavily, "Sure sure..." And with that she wandered back to the Hufflepuff table.  
Jasper glanced at me, "...Have you told her?"  
"Told her what?" "About ...us?" "No. She s got Malfoy to worry about." He turned to face his plate and picked up his fork, "Ok." There was a moment s silence, which was interrupted as always, by Umbridge s loud announcements, "ANYONE IN POSSESION OF WEASLEY PRODUCTS WILL BE HENCEFORTH EXPELLED. UNDER THE EDUCATIONAL DECREE NUMBER 23, DOLORES UMBRIDGE IS NAMED HIGH INQUISITOR AT HOGWARTS." The screeching stopped. Thank God for that.

**JULIET**

After breakfast I waited at the entrance to Hogsmeade, just like Autumn had said.  
Her and Jasper soon arrived, but not till I was practically shaking. It was early and was still foggy out, it was going to take about an hour for it to warm up properly.  
"Do you even know what time this meeting is?" I whined.  
"Oh. Er. Nope, didn't really think about that." Autumn laughed weakly, me and Jasper just looked at her as if to say 'oh please, trust you to do something like that.  
The three of us walked round Hogsmeade, chatting happily, looking through shop windows, pointing to broomsticks in the window and announcing that 'one day, I shall own that.  
We went into the book store for a moment or two, looking round casually. Being Ravenclaws, Autumn and Jasper were a lot more into books than I was, meaning I spent a lot of my time looking at the authors on the back and deciding who they looked like most from our year.

After the two geeks had bought nearly a whole shop full of books, we went down to the Hog's Head pub, which was full of students.  
We moved to the corner where Potter and his friends were sat. Granger was taking down names, and Weasley was talking quickly, Potter however was simply watching all of this take place, often adding in commentary where he thought useful.  
It was like the other two worked for him. Stupid spoilt brat.  
I ordered a butterbeer, as did Jasper and Autumn. I was prepared to pay, but Jasper insisted on buying ours for us, and hey, who am I to turn down a free drink on a cold day?  
We gathered around, merging into the group in the corner of the pub, listening to what 'The Golden Trio' had to say.

"... Fred and George are planning something. Something big." Weasley babbled on, his face turning red from excitement.  
"We've found a room..." Hermione butted in. "The room of requirement. It would be perfect for the training of the DA."  
There were nods and murmurs of approval from around the group.  
I pushed my way to the front, getting Granger to write down mine, Autumn's and Jasper's name. I had to ask him for his surname. Turns out it's Berry.  
Jasper Berry.  
Weird, eh?

For the rest of the 'meeting', we simply chatted on about how terrible Umbridge was with all her new rules, and plans on how to take her down. Or, at least, slow her down, with such suggestions as dung bombs, firecrackers, and some inventions by the infamous Fred and George Weasley.  
Finishing the last of my butterbeer, I looked towards the other two, who were also done.  
"Want to go back?" I asked them.  
Autumn nodded. "Sure, why not? I quite fancy a mooch around the castle. I'm sure we wouldn't be killed if you joined us in the Ravenclaw common room for a bit."  
I laughed. "Umbridge might have other plans."  
"Well, I can't think of anything better to do, and I'm not lugging these books around all day." Jasper agreed.  
With that, we left the Hog's Head pub to return to the Castle.

**AUTUMN**

The meeting for Dumbledore s Army ended and groups of people started to leave. I had found out that the group wanted to secretly practise Defence Against the Dark Arts, as Umbridge s teaching was inadequate, as well as break most of the stupid rules she has set down, and generally piss her off. I enjoyed listening to the Weasley twins, who were secretively giving hints away about their "master" plan.

The only time that I felt like I didn t want to be there was when Potter, so cockily leaning back on his chair, winked at me. I grabbed Jaspers hand for reassurance and I saw Juliet clock on. But then he did the same to Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw in my year. Prick.... I really didn t like that Potter Boy, but my hatred for Umbridge was greater. I guess I would have to put up with his brattish ways.  
He kind of reminded me of Malfoy at one point. Although less cowardly. This reminded me. "Hey, Juliet. Have you seen Malfoy at all today?"  
"Nope! And I don t plan to."

We walked out of the warm pub and into the cold streets, making our way back to the castle. At the common room door, the knocker asked the question, which had changed from the other week. "Where do Vanished objects go?" It said.  
"Hey Juliet, let s see if you can guess this."  
She paused, tucked a piece of her white hair behind her ear and thought. After a minute she threw up her hands. "Nope, I give up."  
"Into nonbeing, which is to say, everything." Jasper said, and the door swung open.  
Juliet stared at him. "How the feck did you know that?"  
"Well, if you get it wrong, you have to wait for someone else to come. That way you learn, you see?" She nodded, but still looked confused.

We stepped through into the large room and settled onto one of the sofas.  
Juliet gasped and gazed all around the room. "Woahhh. You have such a nice common room... Oh my gosh, that view! You can see the mountains!" She ran to one of the arch windows and stared out. Spinning round to face us, she slowly walked towards where we sat waving her hands, "In our common room, there are fat armchairs and underground tunnels that lead to all the dormitories. But this is so spacious and pretty. She flopped into an armchair and peered at the stars embedded in the ceiling. Me and Jasper exchanged looks. We were used to this, but I had to admit, that view of the mountains was so peaceful.  
The sun was beginning to set; we had surprisingly spent the entire day in Hogsmeade.  
Juliet certainly made herself quite at home in the common room, walking up to the bookshelf and flicking through them, checking for any pictures she could laugh at. Sometimes, there were other houses in our common room so the passing Ravenclaws took no notice of her

As she was inspecting the surroundings, Jasper put his arm round me, making ourselves comfortable on the sofa, but as soon as Juliet turned round, his hand shot to rub his face. We exchanged glances and he gave me an apologetic look. "I thought she didn t know." He whispered in my ear.  
"She doesn t. I don t know if we should tell her or not." He shrugged and crossed his arms, watching as the girl sprang around the room picking up every object she could find.  
"Juliet. Calm down." I laughed at her.  
"Ok. But this is so unfair. I m taking you to MY common room, and you will be blown away by its awesome-ness."  
"Ha, sure thing." I smiled back.

Cho Chang shuffled up to us. "Hey, you were at the DA meeting today right?" We nodded in response, then she handed us 3 Galleons. "These tell you when our meetings are. At The Room of Requirement, like Hermione said." Then she walked away again, like a zombie.  
"She hasn t been the same since Cedric died..." I whispered to no one really. But it was true. All Cho did was cry all day. I m quite glad I m not sharing a room with her. She must be rather annoying at times.  
Suddenly one of Umbridge s shrill announcements echoed around the room, "UNDER THE EDUCATION DECREE 24, ALL STUDENT ORGANISATIONS, CLUBS AND OTHER ACTIVITES ARE HENCEFORTH BANNED."  
"What?!" I jumped up.  
"Does that mean no more Quidditch?!" Other people in the common room were also grumbling at this new 'Decree'. Ergh, at least the DA will continue. It is a secret after all. "They had better not cancel Quidditch. You re our new keeper and we have a match next weekend!" I cried to Jasper. He had managed to get on the team after a vote that our previous keeper was totally rubbish.  
"I hate that woman." Jasper muttered, pounding the arm of the chair with his fist.  
"She'll get what s coming to her one day..." Juliet said defiantly. Then she looked at her watch. "It s getting late; I might go in a bit." It was true, the sun had now set and the mountains were covered in a blanket of darkness.  
Jasper yawned and stretched, "Yeah, I m gonna go to bed. See you later Jools, Autumn."  
I expected him to get up and leave, but he moved towards me and lightly pressed his lips to mine for a second before pushing himself up and walking up the stairs to the dormitory. I froze. Did I dare glance at Juliet s expression? I did. And she looked a mixture of shock, confusion and anger.  
"I wasn t expecting that," I said, trying to lighten the mood.  
She simply looked at me. "Autumn!"  
"What?"  
She marched over to me. "Why. Didn t. You. Tell me!" She whacked me on the arm with each word, but she was smiling and resisting the temptation to laugh. "Oh you~ I guess they never learn do they?" She put on a different voice and gave me a poke on the nose. "Well, I m going too now, but don t be expecting a good night kiss off me too!" She joked and winked before taking her galleon, waving and fleeing through the door.  
After she was gone, I smiled to myself and ran my fingers over the Galleon that Cho gave me. It had intricate details, just like a normal coin, but I figured the numbers told the date. At that moment, the numbers glowed and changed. Well, it seemed that the DA organisation was taking no notice of Umbridge s rules.


	6. Chapter 6

Based of the 5th Year at Hogwarts ^-^ This FF was co written with my friend, Jess~ I am writing from Autumns POV, whereas she does Juliet and Draco.  
This story is mainly based of our OC's but we have made it fit with the story and dont worry ;) Potter is in there.  
Haha~ Pleaaaase Review, I love to hear what you think!

* * *

**JULIET**

I walked back to the Hufflepuff common room happily, throwing in a little skip every now and again. Today had gone well. I saw a flash of light, and looked down at the coin in my hand. It was pulsating, giving off a faded blue light, and the face of it was swirling around. I watched it continue doing this for the next minute or so, as I slowed my pace. A time and date materialised on the face of the coin. Looks like the first meeting, was on Monday at lunch. No problem.

Sunday went by quickly, me, Autumn and Jasper spent a lot of time just wandering around the castle, then came back to the Hufflepuff dorms to finish some homework.  
I have to admit, they must have been expecting something else entirely when they walked into the common room, because they both seemed pretty shocked. Wow. Autumn breathed, making a beeline for one of the squishy comfy chairs which was situated in front of the fireplace.  
Jasper ran his fingers over the books in the small bookcase next to the fireplace, then turned to look out of the blue windows, when you could just about see the main grounds, though as the common room was half-underground, it was only possible to see out of the top half of the window.  
I walked past the shelves filled with books and photos, knickknacks and ornaments, a bowl of polished glass pebbles, and even a bowl of sweets. I slumped down next to Autumn and Jasper, who was now also sat on the sofa. Watching them together made me feel a little... Awkward, to be honest.

"I m not a third wheel am I?" I asked, leaning back onto the arm of the seat.  
"Of course not!" Autumn cried.  
"What gave you that idea? Jasper asked, furrowing his eyebrows.  
"Nothing. You two are so cute together. I guess I just felt a little left out." I shrugged weakly.  
"Aw." Autumn leant over to give me a small hug. "You re still our best friend, right Jasper?"  
" Right." He nodded in agreement. "And you ve always got Malfoy." He laughing, giving me a wink.  
"Ew, don t even joke about stuff like that." I said, reaching over to punch him playfully on the arm.  
"... How weird would it be if you two did get together?" Autumn mumbled.  
I glared at her. "Nothing is going to happen! I can assure you of that." I huffed. "And it's getting close to ten." I pointed over to the old grandfather clock in the corner of the room. "You guys better get going before Umbridge catches you. I hear she's got some killer punishments." I paused for a moment. "...Quite literally." I waved my fingers around, wooh~ing like a ghost, whilst Jasper and Autumn stood up, laughing.  
They waved goodbye and I waved back, heading off to bed as they left the common room. Yeah, it was stupid to joke about things like that. Things that'd never happen.

The next morning, I woke up early, showering and packing my bags. Today was going to be a long day.  
I walked off to the Great Hall, firstly going to wish Autumn and Jasper good morning at the Ravenclaw table. I went back to the Hufflepuff table soon after, sitting happily with Hannah and Ernie. I hadn't been spending much time with them recently, apart from chatting with them in the common room, which was a real downer. They were good people, and valuable friends. After breakfast, I waved goodbye to Hannah and Ernie, Megan had drifted away from them too recently, and I made my way to first lesson, Transfiguration, in which I was seated next to Autumn.  
Taking turn after turn down the corridors, I finally arrived outside the wooden doors, which slowly creaked open.  
I sat next to Autumn, who was already inside, and looked at the feather on our desks.

"Today class," McGonagall began, "We shall be learning how to transform this feather," She held one up for demonstration, as if no one had ever seen a feather before. "Into an animal of your choice!"  
She waved her wand in the air, and textbooks flew from the shelves and onto our desks. "The student who completes the task first, will receive 100 points for their house as a prize!"

Me and Autumn instantly started flicking through the pages of the book. Each lesson we raced each other to see who could complete tasks first. If she won she would cheer and go on about how Ravenclaws truly were the smartest house, and if I won, I just rubbed it in her face for the next week, using it at the times I thought were most suitable, for example;  
"Ha! I got a higher mark than you!"  
"I beat you in transfiguration."  
or  
"Ha! I got the last piece of chicken."  
"I still beat you in transfiguration."  
Moments like those were golden.

I picked up my wand, speaking the words on the paper in front of me as clearly as I could, waving my hand about as was directed.  
The feather in front of me blew up high into the air, then twisted and flickered, changing colours and visibility, like a picture starting to load up in the newspapers.  
I waved my wand for the final time, and the feather fell back down, hitting the desk in front of me with a loud thump. I looked down. There feather was no more, and in its place was-  
"Is that a _ferret_?!" Autumn cried, poking it with the tip of her wand.  
"100 points to Hufflepuff!" McGonagall exclaimed, causing cheers to erupt from one side of the room, and groans from the other.  
Autumn looked at me as she picked up the small hedgehog on her desk, the tips of its spines pink.  
"I think you went wrong." I said, smugly.  
She simply raised an eyebrow. "Why a ferret? Of all the creatures there are in the world... And you choose a ferret?"  
"Well... Why a tie-dye hedgehog?" I huffed.  
"They're one of Jasper's favourite animals." She smiled dazedly. She stopped mid-daydream, gasping and pointing at me. "Malfoy was turned into a ferret." She hissed.  
"...Was he? I don't remember."  
"Liar!"  
"I am not!" I folded my arms and leant back on my chair. "You just can't face the fact I beat you and so are picking on me."  
"I could beat you any day." Autumn grumbled.  
"Well you obviously couldn't today." I grinned.  
"Pack away class! Lesson over!" McGonagall called from the front of the room.  
Autumn simply muttered something under her breath, and then ran off to her next class.  
"See you at lunch!" She called to me, before running out of the room.  
Oh, the meeting... I'd forgotten about that. It would be interesting.

**AUTUMN**

I slept through Ancient Runes, not taking more than two notes.  
Then after the usual routine in Defence Against the Dark Arts, which involved Umbridge s shrill tones crying out, "There will be no need for wands," and, "Copy the text out 4 times, to ensure maximum potential." and Potter, as outspoken as ever, demanding that she teach us properly because of He Who Must Not Be Named. It ended in a detention for Potter and a smug smile from Umbridge.

It was Lunch after, where all of Dumbledore s Army congregated in the Room of Requirement, that I was told was found by none other than the dimwit, Neville Longbottom. He mustn t be as stupid as they say. I spotter Jasper down the corridor and ran to catch up with him, my hand entwining with his. We entered the mysterious room through the metallic door.

Inside, the room was so large. Too large to have fit in between the surrounding rooms. It was magic, that s for sure. But at the same time, it was so beautiful. There were mirrors on all of the four walls, and shelves holding hoards of thick books on spells, defence, and the dark arts. Lining the marble floor were big cushions, supposedly if we were going to be learning stunning. There were about half of the people already there. Mostly Gryffindors, a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, including Cho Chang and Loony- I mean, Luna Lovegood, who I had tried hard at avoiding in the past.

"No Slytherins?" Jasper chuckles to me quietly, as if we were thinking the same thing.  
A few minutes of wait, and everyone was there. Juliet had skipped in just seconds after we had. Potter cleared his throat and called us all round.  
"So, um, hi guys. Glad you could make it. I know the Ministry is trying to get us all to read books to learn to defend ourselves. But that isn t going to help when you are out there and a second away from death, or watching a friend die. So, I don t mean to scare you, but we have to protect ourselves. Let s start with.... Disarming. This spell saved my life last year when I was fighting Voldemort. Ok. Get into pairs and work on it."  
Me, Jasper and Juliet looked at each other. "Work in a three?" I asked looking uncomfortable.  
Juliet shook her head. "No you two go together. I think I see Hannah over there on her own; Ernie s gone with Zach, you see."  
I nodded, "If you re sure." She grinned, wiggled her fingers at us and bounded over to Hannah, who looked more than pleased to have found a partner. I think she was scared of being stuck with Neville...  
Jasper walked a few feet away and raised his wand. "Promise I won t hurt you." He says nodding at me to raise my wand.  
"Pfft. We'll see after I m through with you." Shouts of 'Expelliarmus!' explode around the room. Some wands flew out of people hands, however, most were unsuccessful.  
Potter wandered round, giving advice, "Come on Ginny! That s it! .... Good Fred, George. .....No, you re flourishing your want too much, Here watch...." We seemed to be getting the hang of it. I managed to disarm Jasper a few times, which he shook his head at and make the excuse that, "I was distracting him so he wasn t concentrating properly." Whatever. He wouldn t admit that I was better at this than him. I glanced around the room a few times. Juliet was energetically waving her wand about, but managed to get scared by Hannah, who was timidly pointing her wand at Juliet. I laughed, that was, until Jasper took advantage of my distraction and disarmed me.  
"I ll get you back for that!" I cried at him, smiling.

**JULIET**

I waved my arms elaborately, screaming "EXPELLIARMUS!" at the top of my lungs. Hannah gave a squeal and dropped her wand, flinching with her arms outstretched to protect her before the spell even hit, sending me into a fit of laughter.  
A few people in the room had stopped shouting spells now, and were standing still, looking around the room.  
I stood straight, watching them. Harry turned to the rest of the room with his finger to his lips, shushing them.  
Suddenly, there was a tapping noise on the outside wall of the room. It started to get louder and louder.  
There was a low murmur, as people started to whisper to each other, wondering what the noise was, where it was coming from. Suddenly, the door to the room began to re-appear.  
"No!" Harry cried. "We aren't done yet!"  
The door continued to slowly fade back into existence, the tapping getting louder, turning into banging, loud thuds.  
"A door...?" I heard the voice outside. We all did.  
"Malfoy." Harry snarled. "I'll handle this." He went to walk out of the room.  
"Wait!" I cried. All eyes turned to me, and Harry stopped, tuning to face me. "What?" "...Erm... How... suspicious would it look it you of all people were to go out there?"  
Harry paused, rubbing his chin in thought.  
"I suppose..."  
"I'll go." I stepped forward. "I'm in Hufflepuff, he won't suspect a thing." I watched as the handle of the door twisted left and right in its place.  
"...Alright." Harry nodded.  
"I'll be right back."

I walked out of the room quickly, flinging the door open then slamming it shut right away.  
"What the-" Malfoy had jumped back from the door, flattening himself against the wall. "Juliet?"  
I stood in front of the door, leaning against it.  
"Oh... Heeeey Draco! Urm... What a surprise to see you here!"  
"What's in there?" Draco asked, nodding towards the door.  
"There? Oh... Broom cupboard." I smiled nervously. "Full of... you know, brooms. And broom stuff."  
He paused, raising an eyebrow. "What were you doing in a broom cupboard?"  
"Er... Looking for broom polish." I said, as innocently as was possible.  
"You were in a broom cupboard... Looking for broom polish?" He looked at me in disbelief. "Honestly?"  
"That's what I said, isn't it?" I replied defensively. "Anyway, what were you doing, looking for a broom cupboard?" I put my hands on my hips, waiting for an answer, and trying to stare him down.  
"It's none of your business what I was doing." He huffed.  
"And so it is none of your business what I'm doing then, is it?" I smiled, pleased with this argument. "And if that is all, I shall be returning-"  
"To the broom cupboard?"  
"...Yes. I shall be returning to the broom cupboard." I opened the door a crack. "Good evening then, see you soon."  
He grabbed hold of my arm lightly. "Wait a minute." I slammed the door shut once more.  
"What?"  
"What's really in there?" Draco asked, reaching over to open the door. I slapped his hand away with a squeal, and he looked shocked. "What was that for?" He replied, a hurt look on his face.  
"I told you it was none of your business!" I squeaked.  
"...Is there... someone in there?" He asked in a disgusted tone.  
"What the... Ugh, no! You honestly think I'm like that?!" I cried, a little taken aback.  
"No, no, that's not what I meant! I... Er..." He then looked at me sheepishly. "You would tell me though, wouldn't you?"  
"... If someone was in the broom cupboard?"  
"...With you."  
"...I miiiiight."  
"Come on, let me see!" He reached out for the handle of the door again, so I pushed him away with more force this time.  
"Don't you bloody push me!"  
"Don't swear at me!" "For Merlin's sake, Juliet, what can be so important behind that door that I'm not allowed to see?!" Draco growled.  
"...An army." I sighed and gave up.  
"An army, in a broom cupboard?"  
"I swear, if you tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, I will find a way to turn the whole school hate you more than they do now, and they'll also all find out about our little kiss." I threatened.  
"...Fine I won't tell." He grumbled sulkily.  
"You're like a child sometimes." I mocked.  
"Just shut up and tell me."  
I walked towards him, motioning for him to lean forwards, and I stood on the tips of my toes to whisper into his ear. "...It's the door to the room of requirement. Inside is Dumbledore's army, a group of students formed to revolt, and rebel against Umbridge." He leant back up, and I stood normally, waiting for his reaction.  
"...Okay..." He nodded slowly. "...And I can't go in because?"  
"You weren't invited." I grinned. "So... leave. Okay?"  
"... Fine." He agreed. After a moment or two, I tapped my foot impatiently.  
"Well... leave then!"  
"... I don't get a hug?" He smirked.  
I rolled my eyes. "If you do, will you leave?"  
"... Sure, sure."  
I put one arm lightly around him, then let go.  
"See you later then."  
"That wasn't a proper hug." He protested.  
"For Merlin's sake, what are you, five?" I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he held me close to him.  
"This is weird. Can I go now?" I asked.  
"You can't say you don't enjoy it too." He scoffed.  
I paused for a moment. "Let go." I demanded, pulling myself away. "Bye Draco. I stated simply.  
Watching him walk away, I let myself back into the room.  
"All clear." I grinned. Potter gave me a pat on the back.  
"I know it must have been hard for you... You might have been a little scared after what he did to you during quidditch..." I glared at him.  
"Yes. Terrified." I muttered, through gritted teeth.  
"You were gone a while." Autumn said, raising an eyebrow.  
"He s a stubborn jerk." I replied. "Now, let s get practicing these spells."  
I took my wand back out of my pocket, and went back to join Hannah.

**AUTUMN**

As I walked away from the Room of Requirement, Juliet close at my heels, I heard Umbridge squealing, "STUDENTS WHO WISH TO JOIN THE INQUISITORIAL SQUAD FOR EXTRA CREDIT PLEASE SEE ME IN MY OFFICE. FULL UNIFORM MUST BE WORN AT ALL TIMES."  
The same message was being repeated all day every hour or so. I wonder how many Slytherins had been sucking up to the old bat.

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. Jasper had gone back to the common room, so I headed for the Hall to see if there could be any food left. Juliet was walking right behind me, sometimes catching the backs of my heels.  
"You do realise that you are really annoying sometimes!" I snapped at her.  
She stopped and blinked, "Sorry."

"Can t you go bug someone else?" I asked, realising how like my old self I sounded.  
She put her hands in her pockets and shuffled her feet. "Anyway, what were you and Malfoy talking about before? You were gone ages."  
She muttered something and they looked at me with pleading eyes.  
"Oh Autumn, I think I ve made a terrible mistake. I..."  
I stepped towards her and grabbed her arm, panic rising in my chest. "You told Malfoy didn t you."  
She didn t say anything but I could tell by her expression that I was right. As always.  
"God, Juliet. Can you be any more stupid?! I heard Malfoy and his cronies had joined that Inquisitorial Squad or whatever it s called." She took a step back as I continued to rant, my voice rising, "Malfoy probably went straight to Umbridge after you said that!"  
"How can you know that?!" She challenged me, just like the day on the train.  
"Because, come on! It s Malfoy. He s a Slytherin through and through. You just wait and see. The next announcement will be-"

I broke off because oddly enough, Umbridge s squeaky voice interrupted.  
"ALL STUDENTS WILL BE SUBMIT TO QUESTIONNING ABOUT SUSPECTED ILLICIT ACTIVITIES."  
There was a tense silence afterwards. Juliet was just looking at me, her eyes wide in disbelief.  
"It wasn t... It wasn t..." She kept on repeating. Her hands were shaking at her side.  
I didn t mean to brag, but I shook my head at her, "Coincidence? I think not. Tha s what you get for trusting a slime ball like Malfoy."  
Her mood changed in a flash. Her expression turned to rage, her hands clenched and her cheeks grew red. "I ll kill him. I ll kill HIM!"  
She stormed off back down the corridor.

_Great_. I should really warn Harry and the rest, but I m sure they will have figured it out.  
Suddenly, one of Cho's friends who was at today s meeting, and whose name I always manage to forget runs towards me.  
"Autumn, have you heard? Cho just spilled about the DA! Umbridge threatened to get her mum fired from the ministry and then when she refused, Cho told me she used veritaserum! Surely that s not legal!" My head span for a second in confusion.  
"But but that s not possible. Cho was just-"  
"Filch grabbed her coming out of the room after Harry. Well that s what I heard anyway!" So I was wrong about Malfoy... and Juliet was on her way to destroy him.  
"So what s going to happen you think?" The Ravenclaw girl asked me. I shook my head. She mustn t know of my past aversions to conversations.  
"I- I don t know. Look, See you later ok, I have to go." But as I began to sprint in the direction Juliet went, something stopped me.

Fred and George were conversing in a corner, holding what looked to be a box of fireworks and their broomsticks. They winked at me and said, "Shh. Keep it quite till after lessons have ended." I nodded, confused, and slightly intrigued. What on earth were they planning?

**JULIET**

I stormed angrily off towards my next lesson.  
Arithmancy. Perfect.  
I marched into the room, sitting straight down next to Malfoy.  
"Hey Ju-"  
"Listen you. You stupid, lying, promise-breaking jerk!" I hissed.  
"What?" He looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What did I do?"  
"You know perfectly bloody well what you did!"  
"Well if you'd be so kind as to tell me then may-"  
"You. Told. Umbridge." I spat, poking him in the chest with each word.  
"You watch what you're doing. And I have no idea what you're talking about." Draco snarled.  
"Why Draco?" I sighed, putting my head in my hands. "I trusted you! People said I shouldn't, but I did. And look where that got me." "What the... I didn't tell her a thing!" He cried.  
"Well then who did?! Who else other than a certain Slytherin would want to destroy a group run by Harry Potter? Who else has recently joined a stupid little group to obey Umbridge completely and rat out other kids to her? No one else knew."  
"I didn't tell her. And I only joined that fucking group because I had to."  
"You didn t have to. You never had to! And if you didn t, well then who did." I repeated slowly.  
"I don't bloody know, do I?! But you obviously don't believe me, let alone trust me."  
"It's kind of hard at the moment for me to do either!"  
"But... I thought you liked me." He whispered.  
"I thought I did too." I replied solemnly, turning back to my work.  
We didn't speak again for the rest of the lesson.

I met up with Autumn after class, she seemed out of breath and tired. I stood next to her as she regained her breath, telling her to talk slowly. She stood in front of me holding her sides as she tried to compose herself properly.  
"I was looking for you everywhere!" She cried, gasping for breath.  
"What? Why?" I was a little shocked, she looked crazy.  
"I... I was wrong about Malfoy." She panted. "Cho... Cho told... Umbridge used veritaserum."  
"Oh Merlin... What have I done?!" I ran a hand through my hair, shuffling about on the spot. There was a moment of silence.  
"What did you say to Malfoy?" Autumn asked nervously.  
"I had a huge go at him... And... Oh no..." I whispered. I felt so cruel. How could I have said all those things?  
"As much as I hate to admit it... I was wrong... And you have to... Apologise." She sneered at the word, obviously disliking the idea of me apologising to Draco Malfoy.  
"... You're right." I sighed, beginning to make my way down the corridor. "I'll meet you in the Great Hall later!" I called out, as I ran as fast as I could downstairs, in the direction of the dungeons.

I caught Malfoy just as he was crossing the deserted courtyard, a shortcut to get to the entrance of the dungeons. He was heading towards his common room alone, without his two henchmen, which was... unusual, to say the least. "DRACO!" I called across the courtyard, running towards him. He stopped abruptly, turning to face me.  
"What the bloody hell do you want, Portman?"  
I sat down upon one of the benches on the paved area of the yard, overlooking the rest of the garden, near the fountain and small pond. He paused for a moment, before sitting down and joining me.  
"I... I want to apologise." I whispered, looking down at my feet in shame. "I was wrong. I jumped to conclusions. Cho told, not you... Will you... Do you forgive me?" I pleaded, looking up to face him.  
He paused for a moment shuffling about on his seat, looking slightly down at me with a sneer. His expression began to soften.  
"I... Bloody hell, Portman. If it was anyone else, I swear..." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Fine."  
"You forgive me?" I smiled.  
"Yeah, sure. I guess so." I grinned at him. "Thanks, Draco."  
"... As of when, were we on a first name basis anyway?" He asked, laughing slightly.  
I looked at him in shock.  
"What?" He looked around, checking his shoulders for some unseen creature which may have landed on him.  
"You just laughed." I smirked. "  
... I m sorry, am I forbidden from doing so?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"No... I ve just never seen you laugh when it s not from hurting Potter, or something." He smiled and put his arm around me, causing butterflies to appear in my stomach.  
"I do have a life outside Potter you know." I laughed with him, leaning against him.  
It felt weird, yet right at the same time. I sighed, moving away from him.  
"What s wrong?" He asked, tightening his grip around my shoulders.  
"Will this ever work?" I asked hesitantly.  
"Will what, ever work?" Draco replied, confused.  
"Will _we_ ever work? We re so... Different. Just look at the people we hang out with, the different views we have, both pretty extreme... You hate muggleborns, "He pulled a face at the word.  
"...and my best friend is a muggleborn."  
" Those things don t mean anything." He smiled, pulling me back down to lie against him. "And if they do end up causing some trouble... We ll get over it."  
I looked at him, doubtful."I promise."  
" ... Prove it." I grinned slyly.

He thought for a moment, then took a small black cube out of his pocket.  
"Smile." He said, looking down at me and doing so as he spoke.  
I smiled, looking up at him. All of a sudden, he stuck his tongue out at me, causing me to burst into a fit of laughter, to which he joined in with. I re-composed myself, grinning.  
"Why do I need to smile again?"  
"... You can stop now." He laughed, picking the black box up as it fell to the floor with a clutter, and bringing it up to show me. Pressing his thumb against one of the sides, the top face of the cube grew bigger, till it was about the same size as an A5 piece of paper.  
"What is it?" I asked, intrigued.  
"It s us." It was a moving picture of us two, smiling, him sticking out his tongue, laughing, and then smiling once more. The picture re-played again and again, like a miniature movie.  
He stood up, putting the box into his pocket turning round to go into the common room, when I ran towards him, grabbing hold of his waist in a hug. For a minute, neither of us moved.  
"Thanks." I grinned up at him as he spun round to look at me.  
"A-Anytime." He looked a little lost for words.  
"What? You never had a thank-you hug before?" I laughed.  
"I guess... Just not like that."  
"Well now you have." I shrugged, letting him go. "So... You definitely like me again now?" He grinned deviously.  
"Don t push your luck. He leant down and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, before turning back and walking through the door leading out of the courtyard.  
I shrugged off the strange feeling something big had just happened. We were just being nice... friendly even, right?  
Walking off to the Great Hall, I thought about Autumn and Jasper. Maybe I was only doing all this because I felt left out?  
_Yeah_.  
That was it.

**AUTUMN**

Thank god that weight was lifted from my shoulder. Hopefully Juliet and Malfoy will have sorted things out by now, which was a good thing.  
The bad thing was that myself along with the other members of the DA had been submitted to detention which we were to attend every night for two weeks. Umbridge had used the veritaserum to make Cho regrettably give a list of everyone s names involved.  
And we were all banned from Quidditch. I could seriously kill that woman. Taking away the one thing that we all love! It was completely unfair.  
My bad mood was increasing heavily throughout the day, and after dinner I had stormed off, wanting to be by myself. Even Juliet s charm couldn t relieve my temper.

Settling myself on a stone bench in the square courtyard, I gazed around at the tranquil scenery trying to calm myself down.  
In between the sandy stone pillars, there were bushes and potted plants giving the dull place a splash of green. There were intricate markings on the bench, which I trailed my finger across.

All was quiet. It was nice to know that a sanctuary like this existed with the likes of Umbridge storming around the castle, screeching at anything and everything.  
And if Potter believes that You Know Who was back, then its moments like these that I should really savour; if darkness was really coming...

I bit my lip. I shouldn t be thinking like this. Nothing is going to happen! _Jeez_.  
Just then, the silence was broken. A muffled scream came from inside. I stood and peered through the large alcove into the castle.

Flashes appeared before my ears. Blue, Crimson, Jade, Yellow..; each colour sparkling brightly in the middle of the corridor. Bang! Bang! The colours exploded into sparkling stars and crackled loudly causing me to jump.  
"Yeeees!" Fred and George whizzed about throwing their fireworks up into the air. They flew into the Hall and set off mighty explosions. I began to laugh. So this is what they were whispering about before!  
Filch, clutching his cat to his chest protectively, just stood and looked at the explosions with an expression of horror. Hmm, Where was... Ah, right on cue.

Umbridge waddled down the corridor towards the boys, who had zoomed past me and out into the courtyard. Swarms of students followed and cheered as the boys threw more fireworks and high-fived each other, their trademark grin on identical faces.  
"Filch! Help! Stop it now!" Umbridge tried to cry over the noise but was ignored by students and teachers alike.  
Fred set off the last firework. Everyone watched in amazement as it flew into the air and exploded into tiny red flames. There was a gasp as it transformed into a giant ruby dragon; all the sparkles synchronised together.  
It roared and sped straight towards Umbridge, who wailed and ran as fast as she could into the castle. The dragon swooped over her head causing her to trip over her stocky high heels and fall to the ground with a thud. The noise was so loud. I was in stitches laughing, and all the students around me were clapping and shouting their congratulations to the twins. I even spotted McGonagall punching the air in spirit.  
"I think our achievements lie outside Hogwarts, don t you Fred?"  
"George, I was thinking the exact same thing."

The ginger boys gave a mid-air bow on their brooms before waving and speeding off away from Hogwarts, leaving behind the firework dragon, which projected into the air leaving a trail of dissipating stars.  
It was amazing; the atmosphere full of freedom and rebellion. _This_ was what Hogwarts was about.

...But something was wrong. I suddenly got a weird feeling in my chest. Wildly scanning the faces in the crowds of people, I saw Harry fall to the ground with a distant look in his eyes. Hermione crouched beside him as he whispered something. My years of lip reading paid off as I saw him speak one simple word: "Sirius."  
Turning my head, I then spotted Juliet stood next to Ernie and Hannah. She was clutching at her head and looked almost identical as she did when she got freaked out in Divination. Her eyes were unfocused and her hands were shaking.  
My ears were deaf to the cheers as I pushed my way through the streams of people.

"Juliet!" I clutched her arms when I reached her to attempt to awaken her from the trance. She blinked and raised her head to look at me.  
"I- Oh my god." Before I could ask, her eyes shot to Harry, who was being helped away by Ron and Hermione.  
"Come on." She grabbed my arm and dragged me to follow them. "Juliet! Wait!" As we hurried, I passed Jasper, and grabbed his sleeve to follow us.  
The pit of anxiety in my stomach was growing. Something was defiantly wrong. But what?  
"Juliet! Please!"  
Suddenly, she collapsed.


	7. Chapter 7

Based of the 5th Year at Hogwarts ^-^ This FF was co written with my friend, Jess~ I am writing from Autumns POV, whereas she does Juliet and Draco.  
This story is mainly based of our OC's but we have made it fit with the story and dont worry ;) Potter is in there.  
Haha~ Pleaaaase Review, I love to hear what you think!

* * *

**JULIET**

I curled up on the floor, hugging my knees against me.  
The images. They were there again. Yet... Different this time; so much more vivid and bright.  
My vision blurred and my eyes rolled back into my head, the last thing I saw was Autumn running towards me.  
Everything went pitch black. I felt like yelling out, 'hey, who turned off the lights', as if I was in some corny film... Suddenly, there were explosions everywhere. There was the sound of glass breaking, shattering. I looked down at my hands, covered in cuts and bruises, putting a hand to my chest, I noticed my heart was racing, my breathing much faster and my breaths far deeper than usual. looking down, my clothes were torn, and I was stood in shards of glass. I picked one up, slicing my finger open, but feeling no pain. There was a bright blue light, and suddenly a shadowed figure was slumped before me, crying out.  
"Go!"  
"WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE YOU!" I looked around, unable to see anyone who had replied to the person's cries.  
"GO!"  
I flinched, holding my head as the room began to spin once more.  
I was dropped into a much calmer environment, landing on my hands and knees, unsure as to where I had fallen from. Had I even fallen at all? Was my mind playing tricks on me?  
I looked around. There were about five other people in the room... No, six... Was that seven even? The shadows merged together before breaking apart before me, as three of them floated around the room.  
"EXPELLIARMUS!"  
"PETRIFICUS TOTALLUS!"  
"STUPEFY!"  
More flashes of light, blue, yellow, grey, silver.  
I saw two of the figures frozen, whilst one ran out of the room, opening the door just wide enough for me to see another waiting outside.  
I began to feel lightheaded, falling to the floor once more.  
Picking myself back up, I noticed another change of scenery.  
This place was very dark. I looked around, there were only about five or six people here, it was hard to tell.  
One of them walked into the blackest part of the room, disappearing completely.  
Intrigued, I tried to follow them, gasping as one of the black shapes did the same, walking after me. Another seemed to grow an arm of some sort, pulling it back. There was a bright green, and one of them fell.  
I winced, watching the figure fall slowly towards the floor.

As soon as it hit, my eyes snapped back wide open, Autumn standing over me.  
"Juliet? Juliet! What did you see?" She whispered, waving her hand slowly in front of my eyes.  
"I... Colours... Someone fell... Glass everywhere..." I looked down at my hands. They were free of any bruises and cuts I had seen before.  
"Potter went down the same time as you did." Jasper said, his voice hoarse.  
"I think him and his two friends are a little suspicious." Autumn added, stretching her hand out towards me.  
"...We need to tell them. They need to know. This might be important if what Potter is saying about you-know-who is true." Autumn and Jasper both nodded in agreement.  
"So... who did you see this time?" She asked, her voice quiet.  
"There was a boy... He needed my... Our help... But, he wouldn't take it... Someone fell, there were more people this time... So many more." My whole body began to shake. I took deep breaths, trying to calm down. "There were three rooms...One was blue, one was peach, and one was... black... grey... It was so dark, so depressing." I sighed.  
"... A boy, who needed our help... But wasn't willing to take it?" Autumn looked at me. "... You don't think..."  
"Malfoy?" Jasper asked, taking her hand in his, as the three of us made our way back into the castle. Practically no one had noticed what had happened, they were so hyped up about Fred and George.  
"Does this mean I have to tell him too?" I winced at the thought.  
"He's seen you in one of your vision-states before." Autumn sighed. "I guess you'll have to, just to make sure, in case it was him you saw."  
I nodded. It seemed like I had a pretty big schedule ahead of me.

**AUTUMN**

Because of all the commotion the twins had caused, the lessons that were supposed to be happening were cancelled, which made finding Malfoy harder. But it seemed that Potter had a different plan for us. He brushed back his dark messy hair and strutted over to us.  
Placing his hands on Juliet s shoulders, he asked, "What did you see?"  
She repeated the same things she had told us, only now, she was calmer and her body had stopped shaking. Harry nodded every so often and once she was finished, he turned to all of us.  
"We need to get to the floo network and check if Sirius is in Grimmauld place. If what you saw was true, then we have to go and rescue him!"  
Hermione intervened, "But Harry, what if that was what Voldemort wanted you to see. It could be a trap."  
"Juliet confirmed it! You think he would mess with her mind as well!?"  
Hermione looked thoughtful, "...I guess not."  
"Then let s go!" He almost jumped into the air.  
Me, Juliet and Jasper exchanged glances. "Um, I don t know about Sirius or whoever, but-"  
Harry cut Juliet off. "Come on, only one fireplace has access to the floo network." We had no choice but to follow. Juliet s visions had scared me. If a battle was coming, then people were going to get hurt. And if it was Malfoy, even though he is a right git, he didn t deserve to die.

We followed Ron, Hermione and Harry into Umbridge s office. It was filled with cute cat paintings and disgustingly pink wallpaper, much the opposite of the previous owners of this office.  
As Harry grabbed a handful of the green powder and threw it into the flames, I turned to Jasper and Juliet.  
"What s going on?" I whispered. Jasper shrugged and Juliet shifted her feet nervously.  
"I don t know," She spat in a hushed voice, "But I hope they hurry up. I need to speak to-" A familiar cough from the door of the room made terror run down my spine. I didn t even want to turn my head to look at her.  
"You were talking to Dumbledore, weren t you?!" Umbridge questioned Harry, pointing one of her stout fingers at him. "You can t fool me!" Everyone looked at the other, searching for something to say to get us out of this mess.  
"That s it. You give me no choice. What Cornelius doesn t know won t hurt him." She walked slowly over to her desk and turned over the photo frame with Fudge on. The silence was only broken by the clipping of her shoes on the floor. Her hand raised, wand aimed at Harry.  
"The cruciatus curse ought to loosen your tongue." As she went to flick her wrist, Hermione cried out.  
"Tell her Harry!" Confusion splashed over Harry s face.  
"Dumbledore s secret weapon," The girl continued.  
"You will take me to it." Umbridge commanded. As everyone made to move to the door, she whipped round and held her hand to me, Juliet, Jasper and Ron. "You will stay here under guard." One hand then waved open the door and her 'Inquisitorial Squad' marched in.  
"Draco!" Juliet gasped, looking rather relieved. He gave her a funny look and her gaze shot to her feet.

Harry, Hermione and Umbridge exited, the door locking with a soft click. I had no idea what they had planned, nor why we were caught up in this mess. A thud came from the other side of the door and Neville, Luna and Ginny Weasley were shoved into the room by Filch.  
"Caught these trying to curse Dolores." He made a weird chuckle noise and locked the door again.  
This was _too_ easy now. Three Gryffindors, three Ravenclaws and a Hufflepuff, against 4 solemn looking Slytherins. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Marcus Flint, one of the Quidditch Players leant against the desk. Malfoy wouldn t look in our direction. He fiddled with his cloak fastening and was biting his lip.  
Juliet started to walk towards him and when Crabbe and Goyle pointed their wands at her, she simply threw up her hands and cried, "Jeez, calm down!" Her hand moved to Malfoy s ear and she whispered to him. I watched from across the room, my hand clutching Jaspers, as his expression went from confusion, to shocked, to scared.  
His pale face whitened even more as Juliet leaned back and shrugged at him. As she turned to skip back to us, he caught her hand.  
"I won t let it happen." He said aloud for us all to hear.

Then there was silence again.  
Silence until, "Impedimenta!" Ginny threw a spell towards Flint. He froze, bound in position. Crabbe and Goyle could hardly blink, or process any thoughts, before the same had been cast on them.  
Ron, Ginny and Neville all pointed their wands towards Malfoy, cornering him. Not knowing what came over me, and after seeing Juliet s worried face, I threw myself in front of him.  
"No. Stop. He s with us." My unusual calm persona threw Jasper and Juliet into bafflement. But the Gryffindors lowered their wands.  
"Fine," Ron gave Malfoy an evil look.  
"Come on, We've got to get back to Harry." Ginny unlocked the door with a simple, "Alohamora," and lead us all out into the corridor.  
"We have to go with them. Not to save whoever, or for their benefit, but because in my vision, and Potters, there was a Hall of Prophecies. And I have to know. I don t think it was just coincidence that Trelawney gave that prediction to me." Juliet explained to us three as the others began down the corridor.  
I nodded, "I m in." And if I was, then Jasper was.  
We looked to Malfoy. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "If it were anyone but you Portman..."

**JULIET**

After Harry returned, explained why Umbridge was no longer a problem (apparantly it was centuars...) and used the floo powder to talk to some weird, and extremely angry, little house elf through the fire, Luna led us all outside, telling us of her 'grand idea to take us all to the ministry, in under ten minutes.  
I looked towards Autumn, who just shrugged, walking out the door. I followed her, walking next to Draco, with Jasper close behind.  
When we finally caught up with Luna, she was stood outside the forbidden forest.

"... Well?" Draco asked, obviously unhappy about trusting her.  
I gave him a jab in the ribs with my elbow. "What is it, Luna?" I smiled as Draco huffed in annoyance.  
"Thestrals." She grinned, waving an arm towards the forest.  
We waited for a minute or two, before Autumn finally spoke up.  
"Er... Where, exactly?"  
"Give them a moment." Luna said dazedly.  
We all stood around awkwardly, Harry was starting to get a little agitated.  
"...Listen, Luna, if these horse things don't come so-"  
"Here they are!" She squealed, throwing her hands up into the air and jumping back. Stepping alongside her, we watched as the beasts made their way cautiously out of the forest.  
"Where?" Autumn asked.  
"They're right in front of us..." I whispered. I had never been so close to them before. "You probably can't see them because you haven't witnessed death."  
Autumn paused for a moment, and decided to leave the questions out, though I could tell she wanted to ask.  
"My parents were chasing down a crazed wizard... He came to our house, and they had to stop him. He died. I saw it." I stated simply. I had nightmares for years about the incident, but had slowly gotten over it through the years, though even now I didn't like to go into detail about the ordeal.  
I turned to look at Jasper. He too could not see the horses, neither could some of Harry's friends. I looked to Draco beside me. He was staring straight ahead, his expression blank. I decided not to ask.  
"Hop aboard then." Luna beamed, hoisting herself up onto a thestral.  
I picked the one closest to me, and lifted myself up to sit upon it's back, helping Autumn up after me, knowing she couldn't see them.  
"Draco, will you ride with Jasper?" I asked. Jasper couldn't see the thestrals, and I had no idea if Draco could or not, but he accepted and helped Jasper onto the creature's back, so I took it that he could.  
Once we were all seated, we looked towards Luna for instructions. "To the ministry!" She cried, pointing an arm forward. The thestral galloped off at full speed, I heard Autumn give a squeal behind me as out thestral bounded after it, and suddenly, we were flying.  
There were cheers and whoops as we ascended into the air, flying above the clouds and over the sea, towards the Ministry of Magic.

We arrived in less than ten minutes, just as Luna had said we would. Hopping off the beasts was far easier than it had been to get on them, and soon we were all assembled outside the Ministry.

**AUTUMN**

It had felt so strange. To put my hands and sit on an invisible creature, that I knew had to be there, but it didn t stop my mid air panics where I had to grab onto the back of Juliet s shirt. Flying on a broomstick was nothing like this... and i think I'd take the broom any day. We landed roughly in a clear space in a deserted part of London. As everyone began to slip off their thestrals, I counted.

8...9....10. There were 10 of us.  
It was rather hard to keep track of everyone, and we were all there for different purposes. Myself? Well, I guess me and Jasper were both there to have Juliet s back. She seemed fixated on this prophecy and the visions she saw.

Harry led us all towards an abandoned dusty red telephone box.  
"Come on, everyone inside. We'll fit." And as we all squeezed in, Harry told us about how this was the visitors entrance which Mr Weasley had taken him to because of his hearing last July. Apparently, he had used a Patronus charm in the presence of his cousin, but was 'cleared of all charges.' _Pfft_.  
The door pulled shut, and I wriggled about in my small space, shoulder to shoulder in between Juliet and Ginny. After several clicks and pressing of buttons from Harry, the box shuddered and moved downwards, just like a lift.

The door was opened and we were free to roam the ministry. The first thing I thought was 'Whoa.' Because everywhere, there were pictures, painting, statues of wizards and witches, but mostly of Cornelius Fudge. In the middle of the corridor, there was a white marble statue where a witch, a wizard, a goblin and a house elf were carved. As we followed the bright green walls towards the lift, Harry nodded to the statue and said, "If we get through this. I ll empty all the gold in my pockets into that fountain." It was irrelevant to me, but I think it was some sort of promise; to keep faith and hope for the best. Well I don't know what they were planning, but I am finding this prophecy then getting the hell out of here. It creeped me out enough as it was, without the threat of Death Eaters or more people like Umbridge walking about here.

I shuddered and jogged to catch up to the rest, who were entering the lift. It sped up and down, then unexpectedly sideways. I clutched the wall as it halted abruptly and a woman's voice said, "Department of Mysteries".  
We got off and Harry immediately sped towards the black door at the end of the looming corridor.  
"This is it! The door in my dreams." He reached out slowly and rubbed his fingers on the large door knob. Juliet also gave the door a look, as if to say, yeah, I know this door too.

Harry pushed it open and crept inside. The door creaked closed behind us. Inside, we found ourselves to be in a large circular room. Before us there were about 12 black, identical doors, each with the same intricate markings round the rim. We stood together in a huddle, just watching and feeling quite lost as Harry rushed to open each door, poking his head in and peering round, closing it again, cursing, and running to the next.  
Draco began to yawn, and shoved his hands in his pockets, "Come on Juliet. What are we waiting for?" He whispered in her ear impatiently. She simply shushed him and continued to watch.  
At the 6th door that Harry pulled open; he gasped and spun round to face us. "This is it. Come on." Neville, Ginny, Luna, Ron and Hermione immediately followed him, like they were sheep, or robots obeying a command. Me, Juliet, Jasper and Malfoy glanced at one another.  
"You go on ahead. We're here just to find something, and then we re off, okay?" Juliet told the others.  
"Good Luck." Ginny nodded to us.  
"You too." And they turned right inside the room and ran off.  
"Ok then. Come on." The four of us turned left inside the room. There were so many shelves and aisles of the similar misty ball shapes.  
I would have lost count very early on if I tried. 856....857....858.... There seemed to be hundreds of these mile long shelves.  
"How are we going to find one tiny prophecy?" I asked, my voice sounding hoarse from not speaking for a long time.  
Juliet was whispering the numbers as we passed them, but she stopped. "My parents told me a story once. I don t remember much how it goes, but it was set in a room described like this, and they said that earlier prophecies were in the higher numbered shelves. And you see, our Prophecy was only made a few days ago, therefore it must be near here somewhere."

We had reached the end of the room and the final shelf was built at eye level on a dark brick wall. Malfoy began to stroll down it looking at names on the plaques beneath the silver balls. "Hmm... Nope. Not any of these."  
Jasper tried the opposite shelf, trailing his finger along the dusty rim of the shelf. "Hey Juliet, what s your middle name?"  
"Ofelia." She replied looking stern. Even I had never heard her middle name before. I don t think she liked it too much. Well, who would want to be named after _two_ Shakespeare characters that died? Jasper glanced back to the globe next to where he was stood.  
"It s here." The sound of her feet pounding the floor echoed as she ran to him. In silence, she picked the prophecy up and held it in both hands at her chest. A mystical voice whispered from it, "_Three of the good shall soon turn to the bad, all for one from a prestigious family, though not to impress. Lies, fighting, happiness, sadness... death. Love and life lost, mistakes shall be made_."  
It faded and Juliet held it out. "I knew it was about us. I had such a strong gut feeling."  
"But... it said death... Does that mean one of us is going to die?" We all looked at each other s faces, wondering and worrying. I couldn't stand to lose either Juliet or Jasper. But I couldn t wish death upon Malfoy. Juliet loved him too much, and I would never wish death upon anyone, no matter how irritating.  
There was another moment of silence. "I..." I tried to begin, but didn t have the words to say what I felt.

Suddenly a large crash blasted from across the room. We heard cries. Shouts. Screams.  
"Run." Jasper simply said and we all sprinted off as fast as we could. Row 732....731.....730... We were getting closer to the door. 695. The first aisle outside the door. The crashes crescendoed as we reached the door... or where the door was supposed to be. Juliet clawed at the bricks.  
"Where has it gone!" She cried. I could feel tears welling. We couldn t get out. And whatever Harry and the others had done did not sound good. Juliet placed her prophecy on a random shelf and signalled to us to follow her. I soon saw why. Neville and Luna were just down on of the rows, firing stunning spells behind them.  
"Guys come on! Run!" Neville shouted at us forcefully. A Death eater swooped down on them and we all froze in horror. "Stupefy!" Neville pointed his wand and the red shot the Death Eater in the chest.  
"Well done" Luna smiled gracefully. But now was not the time for pleasantries. There were Death Eaters here. And we had no exit. I couldn t breathe; my chest felt like it was imploding.

Luna and Neville ran down another aisle so we left them to it and began towards the direction of Harry s voice. A dead end caused me to halt in my tracks.  
"Oh come on!" I pounded the wall with my fist. I looked desperately at my friends. Malfoy however, was looking shifty, nervous almost.... _Of course_. His dad was probably one of the Death Eaters out there.  
A splintering crash, louder than before had us frozen in our place. Suddenly the shelves started collapsing around us. I screamed and shielded my eyes from the smashing glass. Juliet and Malfoy had begun dodging them, and were heading towards an opening that could get us free. I looked around widely. "Jasper! Jasper!"  
He coughed, "I m here." He grabbed my sleeve and pulled me close to his chest. My throat stung as I bit back the tears.  
"Come on guys! Move it!" Juliet called urgently.  
Then Jasper disappeared from my grip.  
My eyes flew open and my heart stopped.

One of the shelves had fallen on top of him, keeping half his body from view. I let out a cry and knelt, shoving glass away, not caring about the still falling pieces of debris. "Jasper!" I wept, shaking his shoulder. His eyes were closed and his legs were trapped. No, no, no, no, no.... I felt a tug at my shoulder.  
"Autumn!" Juliet stared at me with pleading eyes. "We haven t got long!" She shouted.  
My vision blurred and my heart flipped as I heard Jasper groan. He was muttering something I couldn t make out. "What? What? Jasper can you hear me?! Jasper wake up."  
He took in a deep breath. "...Go." I stared at him. No. He couldn t. "Go!" His voice grew stronger.  
"We can t leave you!" I scrambled to find his hand and pressed it to my cheek.  
"Go! Autumn, please. I couldn t bear it if you got hurt. I ll be fine."  
I shook my head, tears dripping freely now, "Jasper..." I kissed his cheek and stroked his hair quickly.

Juliet grabbed me round the waist and lifted me away. Malfoy also took hold of my arms and dragged me through the clearing. After we were through the gap, more shelves collapsed where we were just standing. My mouth widened and I gasped.  
"No.... No! Jasper!" I attempted to attack the shelves blocking my view of him but the other two took hold of my and forcefully lead me away. No, Jasper. I won t believe it. It can t be you that dies. It- It just can t! My heart felt like it had been ripped into pieces, and I lay shattered at the end of my despair. My salty tears were staining my cheeks and I didn t know where they were dragging me. I didn t care anymore.

**JULIET**

Malfoy and I each had hold of one of Autumn's arms, reluctantly dragging her along. She kept muttering Jasper's name to herself, running my free hand along the wall, I searched for a door. Suddenly, I ran my hand over a raised part of the wall. Looking at it, I noticed a small handle concealed within the wall. A hidden door. I felt like crying I was so happy. I turned towards Draco, who had frozen, and was looking down one of the small aisle like corridors of prophecies.  
"DRACO?!" I heard a yell. "...I'm sorry father." Draco whispered, looking straight at the hooded figure.  
"Draco we have to move!" I screamed at him. Reaching for the handle, I grabbed underneath it, yanking it open and slicing my finger on the sharp rock. "Fuck." I muttered, waving my hand about, as if that would help numb the pain.  
I dragged both him and Autumn forcefully through the door.

I looked around as to where we were now. The room was dark. I clutched my throbbing head as I looked around.  
I saw Harry and Sirius stood next to each other in front of some sort of curtain... veil... thing, and ran to join them. Harry looked like he'd been through a lot, his expression confused. My whole body was aching, and each step I took hurt my legs. I had a stitch, and my breathing was uneven.  
"Where are the others?" Harry asked when he saw us. "Where s Jasper?"  
" Jasper..." Autumn mumbled, bursting into tears and collapsing onto her knees.  
I took Draco's hand in mine.  
"He s back in the other room. A shelf... Collapsed on top of him..." There was a moment of silence, and Draco squeezed my hand for reassurance. I took a deep breath. "But... I don t think he dies." Autumn s head shot up.  
"He doesn t?!" She cried, slowly getting to her feet.  
"I'm not saying that..." I said softly. "But... In my... vision, dream... Whatever it was... There is a person who falls here. And they don t get back up. And that was the last thing I saw."  
" So..." Harry looked towards me. "What happens here?"  
" -I ll tell you what happens here."

The five of us turned to see a figure slowly making their way through the shadows.  
It was a woman, a crazed smile playing across her lips. Her hair was a tangled mess, her robes torn and her skin covered in cuts and bruises.  
"Bellatrix." Sirius hissed. "Harry, move!" He pushed his godson out of the way.  
"Why are you here?" Sirius asked, talking slowly, moving away from the group of us.  
"You always were the stupid one, weren t you? Always getting in with the wrong crowd. You and that stupid James Potter, the ignorant know-it-all, Remus Lupin, and not to mention that coward, Pettigrew." Sirius flinched as she spoke each name.  
"And there reason I m here, Sirius? You want to know why I m here? I m here, Sirius, to kill you." She lifted up her wand, screaming the words.  
Sirius ducked the first jet of red light easily.  
"Come on, you can do better than that!" he taunted, pacing up and down, laughing as he did so. "You always were the crazy one." The second bolt of red light hit him square in the chest, his eyes widening in shock, the laughter still continuing behind them.  
"NO!" Harry cried, reaching out towards his godfather as he fell through the veil behind. It all happened so fast.  
I remembered now. The person to the far left fell and vanished... The person next to them stayed standing.  
But the third in the line... was the one who fell.  
"You ll always be my best friend, you know that?" I whispered to Autumn, my eyes stinging, swallowing hard, I forced back the tears. She looked confused for a moment, then understood.  
"You promise you ll never forget me?" She whispered, holding my hand in hers.  
"Promise." Bellatrix screeched once more, her wand aimed at Harry whilst he was distracted. I let go of Autumn s hand.

And that was when I leapt.

The stream of red light hit me, hard. I felt my body jerk violently, my vision fading.  
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Harry cried disarming Bellatrix, who fled the room before Harry could hit her once more.

I saw people gathering round me... Someone was screaming.  
I laughed weakly.  
"I love you guys."

And then everything went black.


	8. Chapter 8

Based of the 5th Year at Hogwarts ^-^ This FF was co written with my friend, Jess~ I am writing from Autumns POV, whereas she does Juliet and Draco.  
This story is mainly based of our OC's but we have made it fit with the story and dont worry ;) Potter is in there.  
Haha~ Pleaaaase Review, I love to hear what you think!

* * *

**DRACO**

I watched in horror as Juliet fell to the ground. Potter chased off the crazy bitch that hit her, whilst Autumn and I ran to Juliet s side.  
Autumn was screaming like she d never stop. I felt a stinging sensation in my eyes, and then tears began to run down my face.  
I held her hand in mine, crouching down and propping her head up, cradling her close to my chest.  
"...I love you guys." She laughed feebly.  
Hey eyes glazed over, and I felt like my heart had stopped beating as well.  
"No, no, NO!" Autumn was screaming, hugging herself and rocking on the floor.  
Harry stood, watching us.  
"DO SOMETHING!" I yelled at him.  
"...I... I can t." He whispered.  
"No, Juliet... You can t die..." I whispered, stroking her cheek with my thumb. "No... Don t you remember?" I started laughing slightly with hysteria. "We we re going to make things work."

I reached into my pocket, pulling out the little black box and placing it in the palm of her hand, before placing my hand on top of it, forcing her fingers to curl around it.  
"You can t leave me!" I cried. "YOU CAN T LEAVE ME DAMNIT!"

I took my hand off hers, watching as her fingers stiffly uncurled from around the box.  
"Oh no... no, no, _no_..." I thought of all the time we d spent together.  
I forgot all about the arguments and fighting.  
Pressing the side of the black box, I watched as our picture played again and again.  
She had always been so happy.  
_I love you guys... _Her voice played over in my head.

"Why didn t I die?" I whispered. "You said so yourself. I m a jerk. I deserved it."  
My tears dropped onto her face, and I wiped them away with the sleeve of my cloak.  
"...What if I forget your voice?" I whispered. "This thing doesn t have sound, you know." I laughed weakly, looking down at the box in her palm. "I could never live with myself."  
"Draco..." Harry put his hand on my shoulder.  
"Don t you dare fucking touch me." I spat. "It s your fault!"  
"What?" Harry stepped back, holding his hands in front of him.

I stood up, holding my wand unsteadily, pointing it at his chest. "IF YOU HAD BEEN PAYING SOME BLOODY ATTENTION FOR ONCE IN YOUR STUPID, PATHETIC LITTLE LIFE-" I heard a thud and looked down. I d let her go... Juliet s head had fallen from my lap and onto the hard stone floor. Her head tilted sideways, as though she were looking at me, her eyes still partially open. "Oh shit! I m sorry... I m so, so sorry..." I sat down on the floor once more, stroking the back of her head with my hand.  
"...She can t feel any pain, Malfoy." Harry said.  
"YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP, POTTER!" I roared, turning back to face Juliet. Her skin was cold, her cheeks had lost that rosy pink they always used have. Wrapping my arms around her, I hummed that little tune she used to sing whilst she worked in class, my voice breaking half way through. "You... You just ignore him..." I didn t feel crazy. I just felt **empty**.  
I leant down and kissed her forehead gently.  
"...I... I l-love you..." I choked, tears streaming down my face. "...And we were so good together... You changed the way I saw things... you made me happy... Happier than I d ever been..." I looked down, watching the picture of us. Watching Juliet.

Then I saw her as she was now, lay in front of me. Cold, limp... Lifeless.  
I kept hearing her voice in my head.  
_"I... I like you."_ When she d told me her vision in Umbridge s office.  
_"I don t want you to get hurt. You need to know this."_ And finally, the prophecy itself.  
...Love and life lost...  
I ignored Potter and Autumn. They didn t mean a thing to me anymore. To me, there were only two people in this godforsaken room.  
I d get Potter for this. For everything he s done.  
I d **kill** him.

**AUTUMN**

I could feel my throat ripping. My eyes were sore. My voice was sore. But I couldn t stop. Screams just kept pouring out of me.  
_"You ll always be my best friend."_ Her voice was echoing in my head. How can you be my best friend now Juliet?! How am I supposed to face the world without you?!

Draco was next to me; he kept shouting and then looking back to Juliet. I didn t hear what he was saying. I didn t care. She s dead. She s dead. The words repeating in my head made me feel like I wanted to throw up. Juliet is gone. Jasper, back in the other room, also had little chance of survival. This is what you get when you open up Autumn! I cursed myself.  
If only I had ignored her more... If only I had pushed her away when she had tried to be my friend.  
I could have been sat at Hogwarts now, my headphones blasting into my skull. And no one would be dead. I would rather that had happened than this. I would rather that I lived my life alone that go through this retching pain.  
My hand clawed at my chest. I wanted to rip my heart out and just cry.  
People began to move around me. Someone grabbed hold of Harry as he anguished in pain over his godfather.  
More and more people flooded the room.  
I heard distant voices... Neville, Luna, Ginny maybe?  
And older adults taking over. No more spells were being fired.  
But what did **I** care about _them_?

Malfoy slowly backed away from Juliet. "I ll get you for this Potter. You watch!" He shouted. I only half listened.  
Crawling towards her, I reached out my hand to grasp her cold, pale one. Her face still had that faint trace of a smile on. Tears filled my eyes again. "Juliet." I sobbed. I tried to make out her face through my blurred vision. Her grey eyes stared up into nothing, and those familiar strands of hair fell over her face.  
They weren t annoying anymore. I missed her already. Smile for me, please Juliet. I silently begged her to get up but my attempts were in vain. My heart had never ached this much before ever. Not when my parents ignored me.... When I walked past the groups of whispering girls.... Juliet had changed my life.

A hand to my shoulder caused me to jump out of my skin. I didn t turn; I couldn t take my eyes away from Juliet s face.  
"Autumn? Autumn?" I was hearing things. That couldn t be his voice. "She's gone Autumn. Get up. We need to go home." I was imagining it. That wasn t Jasper stood behind me. It wasn't his hand on my shoulder.  
He was gone, just like Juliet. A tear splashed onto my hand, dripping all the way down from my closed eyes.

"Autumn...?" The boy knelt down next to me and turned my face to look at him.  
I shook my head, "I don t believe it. It s my imagination. Stop it. _Stop it_!" I shouted, my voice breaking halfway through. His lips pressed to mine.  
"This is real Autumn. I was rescued." A shiver passed down my spine and I blinked through my tears.  
"...Juliet- she..." His arms pulled me to his chest and I breathed in his familiar scent.  
"I know, I know." Jasper whispered into my hair. I broke down in his arms. It s my fault. If only I had done something. Stopped her. I should have seen this coming. My best friend... gone.

Forever.

**ONE MONTH LATER**

**AUTUMN**

I sat on the windowsill in the Ravenclaw common room. My headphones were in and it took all my energy to keep me focused on the mountain range in the distance. I was alone; how I was supposed to be.  
_I wish you were here.  
_  
The past month had been a blur. I had sailed through, ignoring everyone; only listening when I needed to. Nobody noticed me. It was bliss.  
_I can't do this._

My brave face was in constant use, when all I wanted to do was break down. But I couldn t. I didn t trust anyone anymore.  
Not after Malfoy.

After a week of pain, I had approached him in need of his friendship. He was the only other one who I knew felt the same. However, I should have known. He shrugged me off, and when I shouted at him to not be so disrespectful, all he responded with was, "Get lost Mudblood." Once again, my heart had stopped and that s when I knew that I was truly alone.  
And then there was Jasper... I didn t think I could love anyone, or let anyone close after... it happened. I had put up all my barriers and eventually, with a sad smile, he had left me alone.

And that's how it was. Just me. I only needed to look after myself. I had learnt that caring so much eventually backfired.

**Today** was going to be the best example.

**DRACO**

I woke up to a smiling face, two familiar strands of blonde hair falling in front of it, and rosy cheeks.  
"Wake up sleepy head." The girl chirped.  
"...Juliet?" I whispered. "...But... You..."  
"No! Don't be silly!" Now let's go and get breakfast.  
I followed the girl downstairs uncertainly and confused.  
"...How did you get in? Where is everyone?" I asked, looking around the kitchen of the manor.  
"That doesn't matter." She grinned, handing me a slice of toasted bread.  
I looked deep into her eyes.  
"I miss you."  
"...I miss you too." She replied.  
Juliet sat next to me, and I looked at her longingly. I leant forward to kiss her just one last time, and she did the same. Our faces were mere inches away from each other; I felt her breath on me, breathing in her scent. She disappeared completely and the room was plunged into darkness. I heard Autumn screaming.

I sat bolt upright, breathing in heavily.  
This was the fifth night in a row I'd had this dream, now.  
Every night it was the same. We'd be so close, she was so real.

I swung my legs over the edge of my bed, put my face in my hands, and cried.  
Today, however, was different from the other days.  
Today was Juliet's funeral.  
Standing up, I went to the bathroom to wash my face and shower.  
I rifled through my wardrobe, picking out my best black suit and emerald green tie, and then walked out of the room. We had no classes today due to recent 'circumstances'. I hadn't told anyone where I was going. Only a select few were invited to the funeral.

I walked out of the dungeons and to the main doors of the castle, where Autumn and Jasper were stood waiting, both dressed in black. There was a moment of silence, before a small black car pulled up outside the school, taking us away.

I leant back on the seats inside, closing my eyes as the car managed to make its way across the water and onto land. No one spoke for the entire journey. Autumn looked out of one window, whilst Jasper looked out of the other.  
The car finally reached its destination, and we all climbed out.  
There was a field in front of us, covered in daisies and buttercups. It was a beautiful day out, the sun was shining, and there was a cool breeze. There was a weeping willow tree in the centre of the field, with a flock of doves perched on one of its branches. I paid no attention to any of this, other than the dark brown wooden coffin which lay beneath it.

I swallowed hard, forcing back the tears, as the three of us walked towards the coffin and the few wooden chairs placed before it.  
Juliet's mother and father were stood at the back of all the chairs, 'greeting' people as they walked to their seats. Juliet's parents' faces were grey, their eyes bloodshot and red. They looked like they hadn't slept much since the incident.  
Then again, neither had I.  
"I'm glad you could come." Juliet's mother whispered to me. I nodded back and sat down near the front. She said the same to the other two, who took a seat either side of mine.

Looking round, the only other people there were family members.  
No one spoke a word as the Reverend held the sermon. I saw Autumn crying silently, whilst all Jasper could do was look straight ahead, his eyes focusing on nothing in particular.

The end of the sermon drew near, and people stood up to give their speeches. I reached into my pocket, my hands shaking as I held the piece of paper.  
I stood up after Juliet's mother and father had given their speeches, both of them breaking down into floods of tears.  
I stood at the podium of sorts, my eyes stinging and a faint buzzing in my ears. I looked down at the coffin, next to the hole in the ground in her family's privately owned field. I flinched, gasping for breath, my heart pounding.  
I looked back at the crowd, and they all looked back at me.

"J...Juliet. She was more than just a friend to me...S-she..." I looked back down at the coffin, tears welling up in my eyes. "She was like a beacon of hope... For the future... She knew how to make everyone smile... And-And..." I couldn't continue.  
I looked back down, choking on my words.  
"And she was the most beautiful person I have ever met, and ever will."  
I sat back down, her father giving me a pat on the back as I did so.  
"Thank you." He said solemnly.  
"It was the least I could do."

We all stood around the coffin as it was lowered into the ground. Autumn and Jasper each threw a rose onto the coffin as it was placed at the bottom of the hole.  
I looked at the two black boxes in my hand, each one containing the same picture.  
I let the one in my left hand fall gently on top of the coffin, whilst I placed the other back in my pocket.  
A song began to play.  
"So far away I wish you were here Before it's too late, this could all disappear Before the doors close And it comes to an end. With you by my side I will fight and defend."

I listened to the lyrics intently. _Before it s too late. _It was too damn late now.  
I swallowed hard, a lump in my throat.

"Keep holding on, 'cause you know we'll make it through We ll make it through, just stay strong. "

"I'll never forget you..." I whispered, as the soil slowly filled the hole, covering the coffin.

"Hear me when I say, when I say I'll believe. Nothings gonna change, nothings gonna change destiny. Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly."

I looked down at the place she was buried beneath the earth.  
_But things didn't work out perfectly, though._  
I thought, wiping the tears from my face, as I said my final goodbye.

**THE NEXT YEAR**

**AUTUMN**

I heard the loud whistle of the train over the busting chatter of the crowds; Parents were shoving their kids onto the train, waving goodbye through the tiny windows, shouting back things to not forget while they were away.  
I made my way, pushing through the people swiftly, towards one of the red train doors. On the step, I turned and surveyed the scene through the slight smoke.  
It was no different to the year before.

My shoulder bag was swinging at my side, and a small tug at my heart reminded me to keep moving. I shouldn t dawdle. The train was the same. Red and striking, the inside embedded with details and posh compartments. I slid open the glass door to an empty one and settled myself into a seat, unsure of whether I was ready to do this. The room was quiet as I was on my own. My headphones sat in my hands and I just waited. For what, I don t know. For a tap at the door? For a perky blonde to swing by and tell me that I should listen to people when they are talking?  
My hands turned into a fist. **Stop**.

No such knock came at the door and I forced myself to stop being so stupid and placed the headphones into my ears. It was the same as every year. I would sit and enjoy the journey alone then get off and enjoy a year at the school. Alone.

But this time I had changed.  
The hole in my heart had never filled. I just covered it up with fake smiles and repeats of, "I m ok."  
So I sat there, feeling lost, and not sure whether I wanted to get of this train that held such an important memory to me.

Suddenly I froze. The song had changed. It was.... It was _her_ song. The one she would whistle and trail her finger along the wall so carefree, the one she would hum until I snapped at her to shut up... Ripping the music from my ears, I screamed and threw the mp3 player across the carriage. Anger flared up and I didn t know how to let it out.  
My breathing was rapid. That s it I m leaving. I can't- I just can't stay on here.  
But all I could do was stare at the spot in the wall where my mp3 player had left a mark and breathed deeply.

A timid knock against the glass surprised me and sent my heart racing with hope. But I was disappointed, yet again. It was not the person I most wanted it to be. Slightly embarrassed, I sat down again and looked at my feet. He let himself in and took the seat opposite, not taking his eyes from my face.

A minute of silence passed as we both sat and listened to the train shudder away from the station. "Are you ok?" He was the one person who I could be myself around but that question was stupid. I had heard it too many times.  
"Of course I m not ok." I snapped. He looked sad and his brown hair fell over his eyes as he looked to the ground.  
"You don t have to be alone. You know that-"  
"I like it this way." I quickly interrupted, not taking my eyes from my feet.  
"You ve tried to push me away, but I can see it in your eyes sometimes, when you let your guard down..."  
"Haven t you got somewhere else to-?"  
This time he interrupted me. "Why don t you just listen for once?!" I had never seen him angry before. My head snapped up and I fell into his deep eyes.  
"Jasper..." His comment just reminded me of her. _She_ had said a similar thing to me exactly a year ago.  
"It s tough for all of us to be here. And believe it or not, Autumn, I don t want to lose you anymore than I already have done." I listened to his voice. It felt comforting... and slightly healing.  
Nodding, I stood and perched myself next to him cautiously. "...I m sorry."  
He hugged me to him and said, "It s ok."

And as the tears dripped down my face, the hole in my heart began to heal.

**DRACO**

I sat on the train, ignoring Crabbe and Goyle and their overwhelming stupidity as they cornered a chocolate frog on a tray and fought over it.  
"Do you two bloody buffoons ever take anything seriously?" I hissed at them. "You re no better than a mudblood trying to learn magic."  
They gave dramatic gasps, mocking me.  
I couldn t take it anymore. Grabbing my satchel and standing up, I walked down the corridors of the carriage, looking through each compartment s window.

I finally reached the one with Autumn and Jasper in.  
He gave me a slight nod as I walked past, but Autumn didn t see me.  
I looked at Jasper.  
He should have been the one to die that day.  
So close to death already, crushed by that shelf.  
I sneered at him and walked off.  
Him and that filthy mudblood. I d gladly trade in both their lives if I could get the one I had lost back.

I carried on walking till I found an empty compartment, throwing my bag onto one of the seats; I sat on the one opposite, stretching out my legs.  
Looking out the window, I thought to myself.  
I thought about Juliet. How she had looked at me as the life drained from her body.  
I took the black cube out of my pocket and held it in my lap, pressing the side and watching the picture play over and over again. I took in her every movement, how she smiled, laughed, how she had tried to compose herself at the end and failed altogether, beaming straight at the box. Straight at me where I was sat now. I gripped the box so hard my knuckles turned white, and the corners dug into my skin, cutting into the flesh.  
I reached out to touch her face, the image going fuzzy as my hand passed through it and back out. I felt a lump form in my throat. This was something I would never get over, no matter how hard I tried.  
I stood up, reaching out and punching the wall next to me in rage, leaving a large dent where my fist had collided with it. I looked at my knuckles as a drop of blood dripped out, falling to the floor.  
Stupid Potter and his god damned mission to save the stupid fucking world. Why would you want to save anything so cruel?

But no, I had my **own** mission now, and there was not time to dwell on this, on anything that had happened. My mission; given to me specifically by the Dark Lord himself. I grinned maliciously.  
Father had got me in training already.  
I was going to get Potter for this. I was going to kill him myself, and laugh when I saw the light which was his life fade out into nothing. That was the promise I had made.  
They were all going to pay.  
I d make sure Jasper and Autumn were safe if they were civil to me, but that was probably about it.  
Something big was happening, and this was just the start.

**AUTUMN**

Days dragged on slowly. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months.  
Slowly, I was letting people back in to my life.

Jasper became a good friend again, and was never far behind.  
Then there was Potter and the rest... who, after a while, weren t so bad. I saw through the rumours about him and realised that behind it all, he was just a good person that bad things had happened to.  
Ernie and Hannah smiled at me when we passed in the corridors, and I even started to talk to Luna, who in years passed I avoided at all costs. Her dreaminess filled me with hope that not all people were filled with darkness.

But there was always one.  
Malfoy was distant. Extremely distant.  
He wouldn t even glance in my direction, and usually, I saw him sneaking into the Room of Requirement, or skipping classes. He looked ill and paler than usual. It was as if fear controlled him. Fear of what, I didn t know. But I think Juliet s death was torturing him; or something like that.  
"Love and life lost." Well that certainly came true.

But I wasn t going to accept anytime soon that my life was over. Juliet had made me see that I needed friends to have my back. She had saved us all and given us a new chance.

I would miss her. And eventually, I would get that Bellatrix Lestrange.

But like she said, I' ll always be her best friend.


End file.
